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GEYELIN'S 

POULTRY BREEDING, 

IN 

A Commercial Point of View, 

AS CARRIED OUT BY THE NATIONAL POULTRY COMPANY 
(limited), BROMLEY, KENT. 

NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL HATCHING, 
REARING AND FATTENING, 

ON ENTIRELY NEW AND SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES, 

WITH 

AIL THE NECESSARY PLANS, ELEVATIONS, SECTIONS, AND DETAILS, 

AND A NOTICE OF THE 

POULTEY ESTABLISHMENTS IN lEANOE. 

BY 

GEO. KENNEDY GEYELIN, C.E. 



WITH A PREFACE 

BY 

CHARLES L. FLINT, 

SECEETAET MASSACHUSETTS STATE BOAKD OF AGRICULTD'EE. 
AUTHOE "milch cows AND DAIKT FABMING," " GEASSES AND FOEAGE PLANTS." 



-iy'G-; 



WITH TWENTY-SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS.. 



c BOSTON: 
A. WILLIAMS & CO., loo WASHINGTON ST. 

1867. 



.a4 



Entered, according to Act of Congress,4n the year 1SC7, by 

A. Williams & Co., 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



Stereotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry, 
.• 7^0, i Spring Lane. 



PREFACE 

TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 



Most of the experiments in keeping poultry on a 
large scale have either failed entirely or only partially 
succeeded. What is the cause of failure in such cases? 
Is it to be found in any inherent difficulty in the system 
itself, or does it arise from the want of the application 
of rational principles? Why should not poultry keeping 
as a business succeed as well in proportion to the num- 
ber kept as poultry keeping on a small scale? Why 
may not an individual succeed as well with a thousand 
inmates of his poultry yard as with fifty or a hundred, 
provided he gives the proper attention to the individual 
wants and requirements of each? 

This little work attempts to answer these questions, 
and it appears to do so satisfactorily. It has attracted 
a great deal of attention, not only in England, where 
poultry keeping is followed with enthusiasm, but also 
in this country, where, if it is followed on a smaller 
scale, it is very generally pursued as a necessary con- 
comitant of every farmyard. No work on the subject 

(3) 



4 PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 

has treated of poultry in a commercial point of view, 
— that is, the keeping of poultry in large numbers, 
as a business operation, — so fully or so completely as 
this of Geyelin ; and hence it may be said to be the 
only truly valuable v^ork on the subject. 

Poultry v\^ill not bear over-crowding any better than 
other stock. It must have space enough for pure air 
and ventilation. It is not essential that it should have 
free and unlimited range. Some breeds of domestic 
fowl bear confinement well. Some are not disposed 
to wander far from their headquarters even if they 
have their liberty, while others are never easy unless 
they have full freedom to go wherever they please. It 
is probable that too little attention has been paid to 
this point in the attempts made to keep them on a 
large scale, where they must, of course, be subjected 
to more or less confinement. 

Again, so far as we know, most of the attempts made 
in this direction appear to have had the production of 
poultry for market as a leading object, while it is a 
question whether, commercially speaking, it is desirable 
to grow fowls mainly for meat. There is more profit 
in eggs as the leading pursuit, leaving the production 
of meat as Secondary or incidental to the primaiy object. 

No doubt the soil of any location has an important 
influence on the health of poultry. A cold, heavy, un- 
drained locality is quite unsuited to the poultry yard. 
The soil should be warm, dry, and sunny, one that is 
good for grass. If plenty of fish offal were accessible, 
it should furnish a considerable part of the food. As 
to breed, it might be any of those commonly known as 



PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 5 

" everlasting layers," of which, perhaps, the Leghorn, 
sometimes called the White Spanish, or Andalusian, is 
as desirable as any. To meet with eminent success on 
a large scale, it would be necessary to resort to artificial 
hatching and rearing, both of which are perfectly feasi- 
ble ; for no one could aftbrd to rely upon hens for this 
purpose where the primary object was to obtain the 
largest number of eggs. Suppose, then, the chickens 
were hatched from the first of April to the middle of 
May. At five weeks old they could be turned out and 
treated according to one of the following systems : — 

1st. Enclose grass land in quarter-acre lots, with a 
small poultry house in each, or a quadruple house in 
the centre of four lots, with accommodations for fifty 
hens — never more. Young chickens might do well in 
somewhat larger numbers through the summer, but it 
would be safer, as a general rule, to limit the number 
to fifty. 

2d. Build coops of lath or thin boards, about ten feet 
long, four feet wide, and two feet high, — four feet in 
length at one end to be a tight house, or coop of boards, 
with floor and feeding conveniences, water, &c., — the 
latticed portion to be bottomless. Arrange handles at 
each end, so that two men could lift and move the whole. 
Set these coops upon grass ground, and move them their 
length or width daily, thus affording a fresh grass run. 
Twelve chickens should do well in each. As soon as 
they can be distinguished, separate the cocks from the 
pullets, and neve^' allow them together except for breed- 
ing purposes afterwards. As soon as the cocks are 
marketable, sell them, reserving only the best individuals 



b PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 

as breeders, with little, if any, regard to consanguinity. 
Keep an unlimited supply of cracked corn before them 
until they are large enough to eat it whole, when it may 
be given them uncracked. This, with grass, is their 
main diet. Give also some variety with a little animal 
food. The pullets should begin to lay early in October, 
when they should have a plenty of fish waste, and lime 
in some form, in addition to the grain. In twelve 
months from the time they begin to lay they should 
produce one hundred and fifty eggs each, and if prop- 
erly cared for they might do more. As soon as the 
hens stop laying and begin to moult, kill and sell them. 
The white Leghorns are always ready for the table. 

I do not know that this movable coop has been 
tried on a large scale; but there seems -to be no reason 
why it should not prove successful. Grass will grow 
wonderfully under it ; and this could be used either for 
soiling or for hay. Some other conveniences would, 
of course, be necessary in winter. 

A coop of the above-mentioned size would accom- 
modate twelve laying hens ; and four of them, with forty- 
eight hens, would probably do better than the same 
number in the enclosure plan, and avoid the necessary 
investment for fences and repairs. Some say poultry 
in such confinement, when all their wants are supplied, 
will pay better than when running at liberty, either in 
growth, fat, or eggs ; and it is probably true. 

Now, if one coop will succeed, or if one enclosure 
like that described will succeed, what conceivable rea- 
son is there why any number should not? We all know 
that success in anything depends as much upon details 



PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 7 

as upon plan. Without attention to either, failure is 
certain. With only one, success can be but partial. 

These are only suggestions to those who are interested 
in the subject. This little treatise is full of suggestions 
of a practical character, valuable even for those who 
ai"e keeping poultry only upon a small scale. If I suc- 
ceed in placing it within the reach of those who have 
sought in vain to procure a copy, I shall have accom- 
plished my object. 

Charles L. Flint, 
Secy Mass. State Board of Agriculture. 

Boston, May 8, 1867. 



PREFACE 

TO THE ENGLISH EDITION. 



In writing this essay on poultry breeding, I have 
endeavored to avoid all technical expressions and the 
usual verbiage to swell a book. Neither have I touched 
upon topics which have no immediate concern with the 
subject matter, but I have confined myself exclusively 
to giving publicity to such facts as I have proved by 
actual experience ; and I firmly believe that this treatise 
on poultry breedings in a purely cofmnercial point of 
view, is the only one ever published, in this or any 
other country, from which the public can learn how to 
enter upon a highly profitable and pleasing undertaking, 
and this without having to pay the usual heavy penal- 
ties of experimenting. I must, however, caution the 
reader not to be startled by the novel plan of hatching, 
rearing, and fattening poultry which I advocate, and 
of which they cannot find corroboration in any other 
book ; and I advise them, before criticising the prin- 
ciples herein put forth, to well weigh all that is stated, 
when I doubt not that every one will admit that the 
principles are logical and based upon sound sanitary 

(9) 



lO PREFACE. 

and scientific laws. To increase the size of this pub- 
lication, I might, like others, have copied and annexed 
chapters on diseases and their remedies ; on races and 
their peculiar distinguishing features ; on artificial in- 
cubation from the ancient Egyptians and Chinese to 
the present day ; on the history of domestic fowls from 
the Assyrians to 1865 ; but to publish a voluminous 
book is not my object. 

My desire is to impart to the public in general, in as 
few words as possible, with the assistance of comprehen- 
sive sketches, and even then leaving them ample lati- 
tude to engross, certain general rules and matters as- 
certained by experience on profitable poultry breeding. 

Should I be fortunate enough to accomplish this 
object to the 'satisfaction of the public, my task will 
bear its own reward by a rapid development of poultry 
breeding in England, as well as in other countries, 
which will add materially to the wealth and comfort 
of nations. 

From the last Trade Returns it appears that up- 
wards of three hundi"ed million of eggs are now im- 
ported annually into England ! Can anything show 
more forcibly the immense and profitable field that 
lies open to English enterprise in poultry breeding? 



G. K. G. 



Belgrave House, 

Argyle SquARE, W. C. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 
Considerations on the Necessary Appliances tc Suc- 
cessful Poultry Breeding -13 

A Poultry Home. The Open Run 16 

The Glass-covered Run. The Roosting and Lajing-Room. iS 

The Hatching-Room. 20 

Reference to Plan and Perspective Section of the Poultry 

Home and Vinery. ........ 20 

General Rules to be observed in Poultry Breeding. 24 

The Laying of Eggs. 26 

The Ovarium. ......... 27 

Natural Hatching. 28 

General Observations on Poultry Food and Drink. . . 31 

The Drink for Poultry -31 

Food for Young Chickens. . . . . . . .32 

The Food for the Breeding and Laying Stock. . . '32 

The Food for the Fattening Stock. . . '. . , 33 

Preparation of the Fattening Food. Poultry Manure. . . 34 

The Feathers of Fowls. The Moulting of Fowls. . . 35 

Diseases in Poultry. ......... 35 

Various Races of Poultry. . . . . . . . 36 

Killing and Dressing Poultry for the Market 37 

Machinery, Implements, and Utensils. .... 38 

Ai-tificial Hatching 38 

The Artificial Hatching-Room. ...... 43 

Portable Artificial Hen for Hatching 45 

Artificial Poultry Hens for Rearing Chickens. . . . 48 

Reference to Perspective Section of Artificial Hen. . . 50 

Artificial Rearing Home . 51 

Reference to Perspective Section of Artificial Reai'ing Home. 52 

Artificial Vermin Nursery. ....... 53 

Improved Fattening Pens for Cramming Poultry. . . 55 

Preservation of Eggs. 56 

Whitewash. Lime Water 58 

Oxide and Sulphate of Iron. General Plan of Buildings. . 59 

til) 



13 CONTENTS. 

Bird's-Eje View and Section of a Poultry-Breeding Estab- 
lishment. .......... 60 

The Patent Vermin Attraction Trap. . '. . . . 66 

Estimate of Revenue and Expenses for a Poultry- 
Breeding Establishment of 3000 Stock Fowls. 68-70 
The Laws of N\ture in Relation to Poultry Keeping. 71 
Egg Preserving. . . . . . . . . -71 

Patent Pneumatic Self-indicating Air-tight Jars. ... 75 

Packing the Eggs 76 

Why Eggs should be packed with the Small End upwards. . 77 
Warming Poultry Homes. ....... 77 

Our System of selling Poultry 78 

Extracts from the "Journal of Horticulture and 
Cottage Gardener." ....... 83 

Home Supply of Poultry and Eggs 83 

Poultry and Egg-preserving Company. .... 85 

Home Supply of Eggs and Poultry. 86 

Poultry Keeping from a Commercial Point of View. . . 88 

Poultry and Egg Company 91 

Poultry Keeping from a Commercial Point of View. . . 93 

Report of Mr. Geyelin, May 17, 1865 96 

Poultry Breeding .97 

Vegetable Growing or Market Gardening 98 

Poultry Breeding and Vegetable Growing 99 

Estimate of Revenue and Expenses. 99 

Proposed Stock. 100 

Woi'king. ........... loi 

Report of Mr. Geyelin on the Poultry Establish- 
ments IN France, July 10, 1865 103 

The Object of the Voyage 104 

Natural and Artificial Incubation 107 

The Rearing of Poultry. . . . . . . .111 

Feeding and Fattening . 113 

Killing and Dressing". ........ 116 

Utilizing the Waste Products 118 

The System of Selling. 119 

The Distinct Breeds. ........ 121 

Caponage and Virgin Cocks. ...... 124 

Opinions on my System of Poultry Breeding and Rural 
Economy. .......... 124 

Analysis of my Observations 125 



POULTRY BREEDING. 



Considerations on the Necessary Appliances to 
Successful Poultry Breeding. 

A universal notion prevails that poultry cannot pos- 
sibly be bred with profit except on farms, and then only 
when bred in large quantities. This is a most mis- 
taken idea, as a few heads of poultry will yield pro- 
portionately as much profit as any larger numbers. For 
instance, whereas in large establishments heavy expenses 
are incurred for buildings, rent, machinery, and labor, 
these charges do not occur wnth the amateur breeder 
who attends on his own poultry personally. It is true 
that large establishments can buy their cereals cheaper, 
and grow their own vegetables ; but this, again, is com- 
pensated with the amateur who obtains a better price 
for his eggs and poultry, even if used for his own con- 
sumption, than the large breeder, who is obliged to sell 
his produce through a salesman at wholesale prices. 

However, to obtain such satisfactory results, it is abso- 
lutely necessary to observe certain sanitary laws in the 
construction of the poultry home, and to see that the 

(13) 



14 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

dietary scale is conformable to the confined state, and, 
in fact, providing poultry with an equivalent of such 
food as they could pick up v\^hen in a free state. The 
poultry home I suggest is applicable alike to amateurs 
and large breeders, and is intended for the accommoda- 
tion of one cock and six hens for breeding, or tw^elve 
hens for laying, and twenty-four to thirty half-grown 
chickens ; and as the same principle must be carried 
out, whether in small or large establishments, it follows 
that where it requires only one home for seven, twelve, 
or thirty birds, it will require one hundred homes for 
seven hundred, twelve hundred, or three thousand birds, 
and so on in proportion to the magnitude of the breeding 
establishment. This plan has, moreover, the advantage 
of keeping the races and sexes separate, of affording 
an easy inspection, and of extending and multiplying 
the homes gradually with the growth of the establish- 
ment, besides facilitating the labor in feeding and hatch- 
ing, and the sanitary requirements. Another erroneous 
idea entertained is, that poultry will never thrive well 
in a confined state ; whilst, in fact, they will thrive much 
better, and be much more productive than when left 
roaming about in all weathers in search of food, pro- 
vided the directions given hereafter are implicitly fol- 
lowed : however, it is so far true, that poultry confined 
in a damp and ill-ventilated place, and having a deficient 
and ill-adapted diet to their confined state, can never 
thrive ; but whose fault is this? Why, it might as well 
be said that a person cannot thrive during solitary con- 
finement, when it is well known that prisoners with a 
regular diet, comfortable cells, and appropriate labor. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. I5 

soon become very sleek and healthful in appearance, 
and that in proportion there are less disease and fewer 
deaths in prisons than among the free population who 
are compelled to seek a precarious living in all kinds 
of weather, and whose homes are wretched hovels, de- 
ficient of all sanitary requirements. 

Moreover, farmers have now for a number of years 
carried on successfully the rearing and fattening of cattle 
in confined spaces (which are called stall-fed cattle), 
and which system, although nominally more expensive, 
is yet far more profitable than the ordinary rearing of 
cattle ; and why should the same system not be extended 
to poultry? 

In general, the management of poultry is considered 
of too little importance, and is left pretty well to chance : 
it is true that of late years the poultry exhibitions have 
created a taste for poultry breeding ; but this is confined 
solely to amateurs and what may be called fancy poultry 
breeding. Yet, amongst all domestic animals, the fowl 
is in proportion to its cost or keep the most profitable 
and useful ; and hereafter T will prove by figui'es ob- 
tained by actual experience that poultry can be reared 
and sold at the I'ate of four pence per pound, and leave 
a handsome profit. Now, such ■ results — particularly 
when butchers' meat is at ten pence and one shilling 
per pound, and moreover daily rising in price on ac- 
count of the increase of population and the decrease of 
pasturage — ought to prove a sufficient stimulant to the 
public at large to give a little more attention and con- 
sideration to an increased production of such valuable 
animal food, which, by proper management, would, 



1 6 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

within a very few years, become as much the food 
of the poor as it forms now a dehcacy for the rich 
only. 

A Poultry Home 

Ought to consist of four separate compartments, exclu- 
sive of the glass-covered passage which runs the whole 
length of the building, to facilitate the service at all 
times and weather. 

1st. A roosting and laying compartment. 

2d. A glass-covered run, in which they can be con- 
fined in wet weather. 

3d. A hatching-room. 

4th. An open run. 

The Open Run. 

Starting with the well-ascertained fact that poultry 
.cannot possibly thrive or be kept in good health on 
damp ground, it becomes necessary, where there is no 
surface gravel land, to make an artificial dry run : this 
is best accomplished with concrete, which, besides being 
cheaper than flag-stones or bricks, does not absorb the 
moisture, and is much warmer to the feet. 

This I'un should be formed slightly concave, as shown 
by Fig. 9, and have an incline towards its end, where 
the rain-water can be discharged into a drain com- 
municating with the duck pond. 

During summer a few inches deep of gravel, and 
in winter about nine inches deep of horse manure, ought 
to cover the floor of this run, which will afford the fowls 
ample exercise by scratching and running. The gravel 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 



17 



and horse manure should be turned over at least once 
a week, and renewed whenever they become too much 
impregnated with the fowls' droppings. This will pre- 
vent the diseases which a tainted ground gives rise to 
among poultry. The sides and top should be formed 
of galvanized iron-wire netting of about one and a half 
inch meshes for full-grown poultry, and one inch meshes 
for chickens. In fine weather the food should be thrown 
broadcast on this run ; but in wet weather the poultry 
ought to be fed from feeding-vessels placed in the roost- 
ing-room, and near to the door of the covered run. 



Fig. 1 




Fig. 2. 





Drinking Fountain. 



Feeding Trougli. 



Feeding Fountain. 



The above fountains are constructed on the principle 
that when placed with their opening towards, and about 
one foot from, the wall, the poultry will be unable to 
scratch any dirt in, nor can the droppings from the 
perches fall in. 

Some persons advise boarding the sides of the run to 
the height of two feet, to prevent the cocks of the ad- 
jacent run from fighting together ; this, however, in so 
narrow a run, would partially exclude the sun, which 
is not desirable ; besides, cocks after a few days' ac- 
quaintance become very neighborly. 
2 



POULTRY BREEDING IN 



The Glass-covered Run. 



The floor of this compartment should be composed 
of at least six inches deep of finely-sifted gritty stuff, 
such as road dust, ashes, and sand, and on this it would 
be well to sprinkle occasionally some flour of sulphur, 
which would prevent vermin breeding on the fowls. 
It is the universal belief that fowls powder themselves 
to get rid of vermin on their bodies ; but such is not 
exactly the case. The fact is, fowls, like all other 
feathered tribes, perspire freely, particularly so during 
night time : this perspiration clogs their feathers ; con- 
sequently they perform their ablution in gritty dust on 
the same principle that human beings do in water, to 
get rid of the dried perspii^ation and to expand their 
feathers. The same can be seen performed by the 
birds of the air, which, on a dry, hot summer day, 
make their ablutions in the dust of the roads. 

In this run the fowls ought to be kept close during 
wet weather, as wet feathers are most injurious to their 
health, particularly when in a confined state. 

The Roosting and Laying Room 

Should be kept scrupulously clean, swept ouL daily, and 
occasionally thoroughly whitewashed, the floor slightly 
sanded over daily. 

The nests, in a sanitary point of view, ought to be 
made of earthen ware, partly filled with fine sand or 
cocoa-nut refuse, and slightly sprinkled over with flour 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OV VIEW. 1 9 

of sulphur. The roosting perches should be formed of 
hot-water pipes, as they are of the utmost importance 
to keep the poultry warm during the cold nights, and 
cool during hot nights, and which will induce a con- 
tinuous laying of eggs during a time when they are 
most scarce either for hatching or consumption. 

Most persons must have observed that even the 
heaviest fowls will seek to perch nearest to the ceiling, 
and that when roosting their feathers are ruffled or 
open. This is easily explained b}^ all persons con- 
versant with the aerostatic laws ; namely, that heated 
air being lighter than cold air it will ascend ; consequent- 
ly the warmest place in a room will be nearest to the 
ceiling ; therefore fowls open their feathers when roost- 
ing to admit the warm, ascending air. Another impor- 
tant point in the construction of this room is the creation 
of a perfect ventilation without causing any draught. 
Different gases, varying in their specific gravity, are 
formed in this room, namely, carbonic acid, which is 
a heavy gas and hangs near the floor, the ammoniacal 
gas from the excrements of fowls, and carburetted hy- 
drogen gas from the exhalation of the fowls, both of 
which gases are light, and consequently rise to the ceil- 
ing. It becomes, therefore, necessary to adopt a princi- 
ple of ventilation by which both the heavy and light 
gases can be got rid of without causing a draught, 
which would be prejudicial to the health of the fowls. 
This is accomplished by two pieces of perforated zinc, 
one opposite to the other, near the floor, and the same 
near the ceiling, and at least twelve inches above the 
roosting perches. 



20 POULTRY BREEDING IN 



The Hatching-Room, 

In my plan, is situated immediately above the roosting- 
room, and composed of two compartments — the one 
in which the hen sits, the other where she has a sup- 
ply of gritty dust to perform her ablutions. 

Reference to Plan and Perspective Section of 
THE Poultry Home and Vinery. 

^ is a glass-covered passage running the whole length 
of the building, and from which communication is ob- 
tained by means of doors to all the compartments of 
the homes on either side. This passage ought to be 
about six feet wide and eight feet high to the rise of 
the roof. 

« is a flue formed of bricks and covered with paving- 
tiles, with ventilation at certain distances. This flue 
runs the whole length of the building, and ought to 
be about nine inches wide and fifteen inches deep : it 
serves for warming the building by means of hot air, 
steam, or hot-water pipes, and the admission of heat is 
regulated by means of the ventilators. 

The floor should be formed of concrete, the sides of 
whitewashed boards, and the roof of glass with mov- 
able frames at certain distances to allow of ventilation. 
This passage can be turned to a profitable account by 
being used as a vinery or consei-vatory without extra cost. 

B is the roosting-room, about three feet square and 
six feet high. The floor should be made of concrete, 



•A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 



31 




22 



POULTRY BREEDING IN 



the sides and ceiling of whitewashed boards ; the parti- 
tions of the nest should also be made of whitewashed 
boards, and the nest of earthen ware ; but the top board 
covering the nest should project a few inches to prevent 
the droppings falling in. 

c is a door communicating with the passage, and 
d with the covered run. In this door an opening ought 
to be made provided with a glazed slide for the egress 
and ingress of the fowls. In this compartment fowls 
should be fed in wet weather, and the drinking foun- 
tain ought also to be placed hei-e. The perches of 
cast-iron pipes should be about three inches in diam- 
eter, and placed respectively three and four feet from 
the floor. 




\/\ X >( V\/v\A A Y VV\/\/\/\ A A Y Y\ 



5. Hatohins-Room. 



C, the hatching-room, is composed of two compart- 
ments — one for the gritty dust, and the other for the 
nest, which should be of earthen ware, the same as for 
the laying nests. The floor, sides, and ceiling are of 
whitewashed boards. The compartments are eighteen 
inches square by two feet high, the door glazed, and 
with perforated zinc above for ventilation ; the roof 
covered with asphalted felt. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 



23 



D^ the glass-covered run, should not be less than six 
feet long, three feet wide, four feet high to the rise, and 
six feet to the apex on top of the glass frame, which 
ought to be movable to admit of ventilation. The sides 
should be formed of whitewashed boards. A perch 
can also be fixed with advantage in this compartment. 





E^ the open run, should be not less than twelve feet 
long, three feet wide, and three feet high. The plan 
I recommend for the construction of open runs consists 
of separate wooden frames six feet by three feet (see 
Fig. 6), on which the wire netting is fixed, and grooved 




uprights, in which these frames are slid. (See Figs. 7, 8.) 
The frames forming the top can be joined together by 



2A POULTRY BREEDING IN 

hinges. By adopting this plan, the whole run can be 
i-enToved in a few minutes, or any part can be taken 
away for repair without interfering with the others, or 
some spare frames might even be kept in stock to re- 
place those that want repairing. 

General Rules to be observed in Poultry 
Breeding. 

T/ie Breeding Stock. 

I St. The hens selected to breed from should be kept 
apart from the cock until they are at least twelve 
months old; and the cock should not be less than 
eighteen months old before he is put with hens, as a 
too early call on nature degenerates the^ breed. 

2d. Whatever races are selected, they should be the 
most perfect speciinens that can be obtained, as the 
first outlay will repay itself^ y _ ,,M.^^ii- '^^^''■' 

3d. That the distinct races be kept strictly separate 
except where it is intended to obtain a cross breed; and 
for this the finest specimens of both races and sexes 
should be selected. 

4th. Not more than six hens should be allotted to 

a cock. i .u-u-'ir (X:.-'-^'-" 

5th. After the third breeding year it is advisable 
either to sell the stock or to fatten them for the market, 
as they become less fecund, and their progeny are apt 
to degenerate. 

6th. The eggs should be collected at least three times 
a day, as in a fecundated egg, when set upon for a few 
hours, the germ very soon gets developed, and the egg 
is afterwards unfit for hatching. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 25 

yth. The stock must be fed regularly at sunrise and 
the afternoon an hour before going to roost. 



The Laying Stock. 

ist. When it is intended to sell the eggs for consump- 
tion it is advisable to pen hens up without a cock to 
prevent the eggs being fecundated, as they will then 
keep fresh much longer ; this system of keeping hens 
by themselves has another great advantage, as they will 
lay a great inany more eggs during the year. 

2d. About twelve to eighteen hens can be kept to- 
gether in a home, as shown by Fig. 4. 

3d. The eggs should be collected twice a day. 

4th. For feeding, the same rule applies as above ; and 
the reason for selecting sunrise and afternoon for feed- 
ing time is, that it is before and after the laying time, 
during which the hens on their nest would get no food. 

The Chickens. 

1st. From the time they are hatched to the time 
when they begin to roost, not more than twelve chickens 
ought to be kept in one compartment, as they will hud- 
dle together, and the weak ones either get crushed or 
suffocated. 

2d. The place where the young chickens retire to 
ought to have a dry floor, and be kept scrupulously 
clean ; and as the floor is the coldest part of a room, 
their roosting-box ought not to be more than twelve 
inches high, and to be slanting, which will keep the 
warm air in the roost. (See Fig. 14.) 



36 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

3d. As soon as they begin to roost on perches, they 
can be removed to a poultry-home, say about thirty to 
each home. 

4th. When the cockerels can be distinguished from 
the pullets, they should be penned up separate. From 
this stock the breeding and laying stock will be selected 
to replace old ones. 

5th. The feeding of chickens ought to take place not 
less than three times a day, and be of a liberal kind, 
with plenty of finely-chopped green vegetables, and an 
occasional supply from the vermin nursery, but no 
meat should be given. 

6th. Occasionally a little flour of sulphur and oxide 
of iron mixed with their food will keep them in good 
health, also sulphate of iron and lime water in their 
drink. The same is applicable for all kinds of poultry. 

The Laying of Eggs 

Takes place in the morning during the summer 
months, and gradually later in the day as the winter 
approaches, until moulting time arrives, when the hens 
cease laying till they have their new feathers, which 
takes about two months. 

Although a hen can only lay a determined number 
of eggs during her lifetime, yet her laying- may be 
stimulated by an appropriate diet (see Food), as also 
by a genial temperature kept in the poultry-home. 

It has been satisfactorily proved that under such cir- 
cumstances a hen will lay at lef/st thirty eggs more 
during the winter months, a time when they are most 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 2*] 

valuable both for artificial hatching and consumption ; 
and taking an establishment with two thousand laying 
and one thousand breeding hens, the extra profit will 
be as follows : Three thousand hens at thirty extra eggs 
equal ninety thousand at 15s. per hundred, £675, to be 
ascribed solely to a warm temperature and appropriate 
diet ; but this is not the only advantage derived from a 
genial temperature during the winter months ; it may 
save, perhaps, hundreds of pounds in the loss of poultry 
from diseases caused by exposure to damp and colds. 

As the laying can be forced by artificial means, so 
can it also be retarded ; and when it is intended to 
keep some hens for laying during the time that others 
are moulting, which generally begins in September, it 
is only necessary to pull out the feathers of such hens, 
and thus produce an artificial moulting about two 
months sooner, say early in July, when they will cease 
laying until their feathers have grown again. 

The Ovarium. 

It has been ascertained that the ovarium of a fov^^l is 
composed of six hundred ovulas or eggs; therefore a hen, 
during the whole of her life, cannot possibly lay more 
eggs than six hundred, which in a natural course are dis 
tributed over nine years in the following proportion : — 

First year after birth, . . . . 15 to 20 

Second " " 100 " 120 

Third " " 120 " 135 

Fourth " " 100 " 115 

Fifth " " 60 " 80 



28 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

Sixth year after birth, 50 to 60 

Seventh " " 35 " 40 

Eighth " " 15 " 20 

Ninth " " . ... . I " 10 

It follows that it would not be profitable to keep 
hens after their fourth year, as their produce would not 
pay for their keep, except when they are of a valuable 
or scarce breed. 

Natural Hatching. 

The hens of all kinds of gallinaceous fowls sit for 
twenty-one days ; ducks of the usual kind, such as 
Aylesbury, Rouen, and others, twenty-eight days ; Mus- 
covy ducks, thirty to thirty-five days ; geese, thirty to 
thirty-five days ; Guinea fowls, twenty-eight to thirty 
days ; turkeys, twenty-eight days ; pea hens, twenty- 
eight to thirty days. With a view of obtaining more 
eggs in a given time from a fowl, many writers suggest 
to prevent the hen from sitting by cooping her up in 
a dark place on a low diet. Nothing can be more 
cruel than to force natui'e without giving that neces- 
sary rest which overwork requires. Already the do- 
mesticated fowls lay many more eggs than wild ones 
between their hatchings, and by a judicious housing 
and feeding, can be made to lay still more ; but then 
it is absolvitely necessary to allow her to recruit her 
strength by a rest of twenty-one days on her nest, and 
a liberal poultaceous diet, as the laying of eggs, and 
more particularly of large ones, is attended with con- 
siderable pain, as is evidenced by the difference of 
sound hens utter before and after their laying, and 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 



39 



also from their uneasiness whilst on their nest. Besides, 
domesticated fowls ai'e naturally of a sociable disposition, 
and to separate a hen from her companions, and to keep 
her on a low diet when she requires rest and nourishing 
food to recruit her strength after she has become exhausted 
from the pain of laying and the drain on her constitution 
by the rapid formation of eggs, is the height of cruelty, 
and would surely not be practised were breeders aware 
of the injury they do the health of their hens. 1 do not 
say that hens should be permitted to I'ear their brood, as 
that would be waste of time, and most hard work to a 
kind mother, who will but ill feed herself to provide as 
much as possible for her young ; she has rest neither day 
nor night, as she is compelled to remain in an unnatural 
position to cover her young ones. The rearing can be 
performed with greater success by artificial mothers, as 
will be explained hereafter ; but what I do advise those 
persons who have a regard for the health of their fowls, 
and their own interest into the bargain, is to allow Nature 
her own way by giving a hen her twenty-one days' rest, 
and the while a quiet place and nourishing poultaceous 
food ; after which time she can be returned to her own 
home, when in a few days she will recommence laying. 

When a hen wants to sit she utters a peculiar cluck, 
rufiles her feathers, and wanders about, searches dark 
corners, and is evidently ill at ease ; she is feverishly hot, 
and resolutely takes to a nest in which there are eggs, 
whether of her own production or not matters little to 
her ; at this time a hen will allov/ herself to be separated 
from her companions, and placed in solitary confinement, 
without fretting, provided she has a nest and eggs to sit 



30 



POULTRY BREEDING IN 



upon. It is not advisable to allow a hen to hatch in her 
ordinary home, and amidst her companions, who are fond 
of usurping the nest, and laying fresh eggs in it. 

A warm moisture being necessary to the hatching of 
strong and healthy chickens, as evidenced by wild birds 
and hens that sometimes unobserved will hatch a brood 
under a hedge in the' fields, I recommend the sitting nest 
to be made of earthen ware, the same as for laying, with 
this difference, that a fresh-cut piece of turf should be 
placed on the sand, and on which the eggs are put ; the 
heat of the hen will soon generate steam, but whenever 
the turf gets too dry, some water may be poured on the 
sand underneath. 

The number of eggs to be placed under a hen must 
necessarily depend on her size. A Dorking, Cochin 
China, or Bramah Pootra, or other large breed, can with 
every certainty hatch at least fifteen eggs ; and as regards 
the selection of eggs, all I can advise is to select fresh and 
good-sized ones. 

Some persons pretend to be able to tell whether an egg 
is fecundated, and whether it will produce a male or 
female bird ; but these assertions have as yet not been 
satisfactorily proved. 




Fisr. 10. 



a commercial point of view. jl 

General O^-servations on Poultry Food and 
Drink. 

When poultry is kept in a confined state its food must 
be appropriate. A fowl kept in a free state on a farm 
can with advantage be fed all the year round with barley 
or oats only, as she will supplement her meals with ani- 
mal and vegetable matters of her own finding ; therefore 
an equivalent should be given to penned-up poultry ; but 
again, as they have not so much bodily exercise as when 
in a free state, their digestive powers are weakened, con- 
sequently they are subject to inflammation of the bowels 
when fed on whole grain only. After this explanation, 
my readers will understand the reason why I advocate all 
grains to be ground, and the meat and vegetables to be 
minced ; but apart from the sanitary consideration, it be- 
comes an important economical fact in a large breeding 
establishment, as it is well known that poultaceous food 
made of .pounded grain, and which calls little on the 
digestive oi'gans, has far greater feeding and fattening 
qualities than the whole grains. 

There is another point connected with the feeding to 
which I wish to allude. The diet should be varied almost 
daily, but green vegetables finely minced ought to form 
part of every meal, and occasionally some oxide of iron, 
auj^at other times flour of sulphur, mixed with their food 
will greatly tend to keep poultry in good health. 

The Drink for Poultry. 

The water should be changed daily, and occasionally 
clear lime-water, and at other times sulphate of iron 
mixed with it. 



22 POULTRY BREEDING IN 



Food for Young Chickens. 

Indian and barley meal, boiled rice, mashed potatoes, 
bread crumbs, &c., steeped in milk and water ; any of 
the above, separate or mixed together, will do well. 

Finely-chopped green vegetables daily, and occasionally 
hard-boiled eggs chopped fine, with a supply from the 
vermin nursery. The water should be supplied between 
two saucers (see fig. ii) to prevent wetting themselves, 





Fiff. 12. 



or to scrape the food out. The inner saucers can be 
partly filled with coarse sand. 

Clean water and a plentiful supply of food given about 
four times a day, and with the comfort of the artificial 
mothers, chickens, will keep in better condition than when 
left to roam in search of food with a hen. 

The Food for the Breeding and Laying Stock 

Can be composed of a mixture of the various cereals^ 
coarsely ground, and made into a stiff' paste. This vSfbd 
should be put in the feeding fountains, where it can- 
not be wasted or dirtied. Occasionally, in fine weather, 
whole grain can be thrown broadcast in the open run. 

Finely-chopped vegetables, such as the waste of the 
kitchen garden, mangold-wurzel, swedes, &c., in a green 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. . ' 33 

state, mashed boiled potatoes, and rice; minced Veiled 
meat mixed into a paste with the liquor from the meat, 
and seasoned with salt, pepper, finely powdered oyster 
shells, or a little chalk, forms a genial condiment. The 
broken victuals from hotels, large establishments, &c., 
can also be used with great advantage for the food of 
poultry. 

Powdered charcoal, oxide of iron, and flour of sulphur, 
mixed alternately at certain intervals with their food, will 
keep them in perfect health. 

The Food for the Fattening Stock. 

As they are still more closely confined, they require a 
poultaceous diet of a highly fattening nature and of easy 
digestion. When once poultry is penned up for fattening 
the diet ought not to be varied. 

There are three different ways adopted in feeding poul- 
try for fattening : — 

I St. A free feeding, consisting of supplying a fowl with 
food and water ad libihtm. This takes much longer 
time, is more expensive, and less satisfactory in the 
flesh. 

2d. Forced dry feeding, which consists of cramming 
the fowl with pills of poultaceous food twice or three 
times a day, and giving water ad libitum. 

3d. Forced liquid feeding consists of reducing the 
poultaceous food to a liquid state with milk and water, 
then to pour it down the fowl's gullet, by means of a fun- 
nel, three times a day, and not to supply them with any 
water. 

3 



34 poultry breeding in 

Preparation of the Fattening Food. 

Barley meal, or mixed in equal quantity with Indian 
meal, made into a stiff paste with milk and water, and 
seasoned with bay salt. 

This paste is then either made liquid, for liquid feeding, 
or into pills, which should be dipped into milk and water 
before they are given, so as to facilitate the swallowing. 

Experiments have proved that the seasoning poultry 
food with bay salt produces the following advantages : — 

1. To render the fattening of shorter duration. 

2. To produce, with the same quantity of food, more 
flesh and fat. 

3. To give the flesh greater firmness and flavor, and to 
the fat more compactness and a finer grain. 

Molasses or sugar mixed with the meal has also good 
fattening qualities. The duration of fattening must much 
depend on the condition, age, and health of the fowl, and 
in this, the same as in administering the food, actual ex- 
perience is the best teacher, as no rules can well be laid 
down. 

Poultry Manure or Guano. 

With the ordinary way of breeding poultry, their valu- 
able manure is lost, and we actually send ships to the 
Pacific, and all over the world, to fetch those very drop- 
pings of fowls which we despise to collect at home. Yet, 
on a large breeding establishment, the collection of this 
manure, so much sought by florists, will yield a consider- 
able extra profit, which can safely be calculated at the 
rate of fifty pounds per thousand fowls annually; but 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 35 

as vegetable growing, the refuse of which is good food 
for poultry, is almost a necessary adjunct to a large 
breeding establishment, this manure would be still more 
valuable to the proprietor on his own land. 

The Feathers of Fowls 

Are another source of profit in large establishments, 
where they can be sorted and dried, as they will then fetch 
a much higher price, and may be computed at ten pounds 
per thousand heads. 

The Moulting of Fowls 

Is classed by many writers on poultry under the head 
of diseases, v/hich it is not ; but is only a natural process 
with most animals in changing their summer coat for a 
winter one.: nevertheless, it is a great drain on their con- 
stitution, and fowls, during moulting time, ought to be 
kept warm, and liberally dieted with warm and stimu- 
lating food, such as boiled oatmeal seasoned with salt and 
pepper, chopped onions, mashed potatoes, and occasion- 
ally bread crumbs soaked in strong ale or weak gin. 
Oxide of iron, lime water, and sulphate of iron can also 
be given with advantage. This diet will accelerate the 
moulting, and pi"oduce a speedier resumption of laying. 

Diseases in Poultry. 

Most books on poultry contain a more or less lengthy 
description of the various diseases fowls are subject to, 
and prescribe certain remedies ; all of which help to swell 



36 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

a book, but are perfectly useless for all practical purposes. 
We might as well try to doctor ourselves for diseases of 
which we know nothing. 

The diseases in fowls may chiefly be ascribed to our 
variable climate, to dampness and cold, to injudicious 
feeding, and to ill-ventilated roosting-places. 

A. diseased fowl, as will have been observed by many, 
is never kindly treated by its healthy companions, and, in 
my opinion, the best and most economical cure for a dis- 
eased fowl is to kill her before she gets too far gone, and 
whilst yet fit for the market ; and if not fit for the market, 
she will, when hacked up, make good food for the pigs. 

I acknowledge myself ignorant of the diseases in fowls, 
consequently of their proper treatment ; and as I have no 
wish to teach the public that which I do not understand 
myself by simply copying from other books, I shall only 
state that, with judicious feeding and housing, according 
to my plan, there ought not to be one diseased fowl in a 
thousand. 

Various Races of Poultry. 

On this subject I would refer the reader for the desired 
information to some special publication, as it does not 
exactly enter into the considerations of poultry breeding 
in a commercial point of view. 

All that is necessary to know of the different races is to 
be able to distinguish those that are the best layers, the 
best setters, and the best table fowls, and never inind 
about the particular points or feathers, the distinguishing 
characteristics of a fine breed. 

Now, where eggs are the sole object, some small breeds 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 37 

lay larger and more eggs than larger fowls ; for this, 
Hamburgh, Spanish, and some ci'oss breeds may be kept 
with advantage. As for fowls that will give credit to the 
breeder for their weight after being fattened, Doi'kings, 
Bramah Pootras, and Cochin Chinas, and their crosses 
should be selected. 

Killing and Dressing Poultry for the Market. 

Almost every locality has its own system, but I may 
advert to a few facts on this subject : Poultry, when bled 
to death, is much whiter in the flesh. I should advise the 
following plan as the very best, causing instant death 
without pain or disfigui'ement : — 

Open the beak of the fowl, then with a pointed and 
narrow knife make an incision at the back of the roof, 
which will divide the vertebrse, and cause immediate 
death : after which hang the fowl up by the legs till the 
bleeding ceases ; then rinse the beak out with vinegar and 
water. Fowls killed in this manner keep longer and do 
not present the unsightly external marks as those killed 
by the ordinary system of wringing the neck. When the 
entrails are drawn immediately after death, and the fowl 
stuffed, as they do in France, with paper shavings or 
short cocoa-nut fibres to preserve their shape, they will 
keep much longer fresh. Some breeders cram their 
Poultry before killing to make them appear heavy ; this 
is a most injudicious plan, as the undigested food soon 
enters into fermentation, and putrefaction takes place, as 
is evidenced by the quantity of greenish putrid-looking 
fowls that are seen in the markets. 



38 POULTRY BREEDING IN 



Machinery, Implements, and Utensils. 

Without desiring to recommend any particular plan for 
the saving of labor, it is yet desirable to state that in any 
establishment of magnitude the expense of labor forms a 
prominent item, and that it will therefore be to the inter- 
est of the proprietor to invest a certain capital in the 
purchase of such machines and utensils as will not only 
economize labor, but also perform the work much better 
than it could be done by manual labor. 

The principal machines required are a grinding mill 
for the grain, a pug mill for mixing the poultaceous food, 
a mincing machine for the meat and vegetables, a potato 
mashing machine with wooden rollers, a sifting machine 
for sand and vegetables, a weighing machine, scales, and 
sundry smaller machines. 

Also a steam-boiling apparatus, a heating apparatus, 
and in fact such appliances as will not only economize 
labor but also materials, and particularly fuel. 

The manual labor itself ought to be subdivided in such 
a manner that each person has a particular branch to 
attend to, by which every one will very soon become so 
expert in the special duty, that the work will be performed 
much better and in less than half the time. 

Artificial Hatching. 

Let it be well understood from the onset that I do not 
advocate artificial hatch?ng and rearing in exclusion of 
the natural method, but solely as an absolutely necessary- 
accessory in any large breeding establishment. Take, 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 



39 



for Instance, one thousand breeding fowls ; they will lay 
about one hvmdred and fifty thousand eggs per annum 
under ordinary circumstances. Now, supposing a fowl 
to sit twice in the course of the year, she could, there- 
fore, not rear, allowing for casualties, more than twenty 
chickens : this would give only twenty thousand chickens 
per annum ; whereas, with the assistance of artificial 
means, the remaining one hundred and thirty thousand 
eggs could also be hatched, and in lieu of twenty thou- 
sand there could be produced at least one hundred and 
thirty thousand chickens, allowing also for casualties. 
What a result from science applied to practical pur- 
poses ! 

Sceptics will of course say it looks very well on paper, 
but it will never do — it has been tried before and failed. 
Now, for such reasoning there are endless facts that have 
forced themselves upon public consideration under similar 
circumstances ; to my own recollection I have heard man- 
ufacturers say that they should never give up hand-looms 
for power-looms, that the goods turned out did not come 
up to hand-woven : I have seen those who refused to fol- 
low the current of improvements swept away from the 
list of once notabilities. 

Up to this very day many object to gas, and will not 
allow it to be a great improvement on our old oil-lamps ; 
yet were gas ceased to be manufactured to-morrow, what 
would be the general feeling? For railways and steam- 
boats to cease running, and to have to revert to our old 
stage-coaches and sailing-ships, would be not only intoler- 
able, but perfectly impossible. 

I m'ght adduce hundreds more parallels, with a view 



40 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

to prove to sceptics that improvements are not only also- 
lutely necessary in all that relates to our comfort, particu- 
larly towards an increase in our food, but also that they 
are perfectly unavoidable, as many farmers v^ho at first 
resisted the improvements in farming by drainage, ma- 
chinery, and applied chemistry, have found to their cost. 
Therefore, in adopting the expression of artificial means, 
as more readily understood, I do not mean to convey that 
it is an entirely distinct mode of breeding poultry, but 
solely an addition to the mode already adopted, and with- 
out which poultry breeding can neither be carried on to a 
large extent nor with great profit. 

My intention at first was to divide this treatise in two 
parts — the first to rearing poultry in a natural way, the 
second by artificial means — with a view to please those 
of my readers who object to any artificial means ; but in 
vain have I endeavored to draw a line where natural 
means end and artificial means begin. The fact is, the 
domesticated fowl's life is as much artificial as our own 
mode of living. In truth, with the progi'ess of civilization 
we insensibly and gradually create for ourselves artificial 
wants, which by degi-ees become absolute necessaries, 
and amongst a thousand others I may mention tea, cofiee, 
potatoes, sugar, tobacco, &c. ; and for the cheap produc- 
tion of such necessaries we create artificial labor (ma- 
chines), steam-power, and artificial manure. Yet with 
all this evidence of steady progress and improvements 
before them, and in the current of which they are drawn 
and carried onwards without knowing it, there are num- 
bers of even well-informed persons who ridicule anything 
new as preposterous — a sure failure, not wanted ; the 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 4I 

old thing is the best after all ; and yet these very persons 
are a living evidence against their assertions. True they 
will never be found among the pioneers of progress, 
which, if their shallow minds could possibly arrest or 
hinder, they would too gladly do ; but they can no more 
help themselves being dragged in the wake of progress 
than they can stop the revolutions of our earth or the 
tides of the sea. From such persons we should never 
have had steam-power, railwaj's, telegraphs, machinery, 
&c., to economize and multiply labor, to annihilate space 
and time ; and yet these persons share in the benefit 
such improvements have created with the greatest com- 
posure, taking them as yaits accomplis^ never giving a 
moment's thought that but a short time ago they were 
what they choose to call new-fangled things ; they forget 
that the very clothes they wear, the food they eat, and the 
beverages they drink are mostly obtained in their superior 
and cheap form by artificial means ; that, in fact, chemi- 
cal and mechanical results axe. combinations of artificial 
means. For the raw materials we must, of course, de- 
pend on Nature ; but even those we can in some measure 
improve by art. 

Therefore, when I speak of breeding poultry by arti- 
ficial means, I do not wish to convey that eggs (the raw 
material) can be produced without a hen ; but, when we 
have eggs, to produce chickens, and from chickens fowls, 
by a wise appliance of such laws and combinations as 
science teaches us, as superior to brute care as much as 
artificial labor by machinery is superior to manual labor, 
as hot-house-grown fruits and flowers excel those grown 
in the open air, and as stall-fed cattle are superior to those 
from the pasturage. 



42 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

There is nothing absolutely new under the sun ; 
even hatching chickens by artificial means has been car- 
ried on in Egypt, China, and other Eastern countries from 
the remotest ages to the present day : yet in England it 
has hitherto proved a failure in a commercial point of 
view. It is true that in Egypt, where they hatch many 
millions of poultry annually, artificial hatching is a trade 
of itself, carried on by many hundred proprietors of 
ovens ; and their successful hatching will be apparent 
when it is stated that they sell one hundred newly-hatched 
chickens for about three shillings, or that they will return 
sixty chickens for every hundred eggs intrusted to them 
for hatching, free of charge. It is also true that the 
climate and soil in Egypt are more favorable than in 
England to the rearing of poultry ; but then why should 
we not appeal to science to assist us in overcoming the 
drawbacks of our soil and climate ? No doubt we shall 
never be able to produce poultry as cheap as in Egypt, 
where climate, soil, labor, and cost of land are eminently 
favorable to a cheap production ; but in compensation we 
can get far higher and in proportion more remunerative 
prices for our poultry, their feathers and manure. It is 
an acknowledged fact that the artificial hatching of eggs 
in England, although carried out on principles not in 
strict harmony with natural incubation, has yet proved 
far more successful than the artificial rearing of chickens. 
This, of course, is ascribable solely to the improvident 
way chickens are treated before they have their natural 
protection, their feathers, in a climate vi^here the sudden 
changes in the temperature of the atmosphere, and the 
almost everlasting humidity of tlie soil, act prejudicially 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 



43 



on young animal life ; but surely these are difficulties 
which can easily be overcome ? Do we not produce in 
England, by artificial means, as splendid tropical fruits 
as any tropical climate can produce? And why not sur- 
pass Egypt in rearing poultry — if not in cost, at least in 
quality and in scientific feeding and fattening, for which 
far more remunerative prices are obtained? Well, all 
this can now be accomplished in England by any person 
who will follow my plan of hatching, rearing, and fatten- 
ing poultry by artificial means. 

This plan must necessarily be modified according to the 
importance of the breeding establishment, and the number 
of eggs to be hatched daily from one to a thousand ; but 
the main principles of a successful artificial breeding of 
poultry will under any circumstances remain the same. 



The Artificial Hatching-Room. 




Fig. 13. Perspective Section. 



44 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

The floor of this room should be of concrete, the sides 
of movable glazed frames, and the roof of boards covered 
with asphalted felt, slates, or zinc. The interior ought to 
be fitted along the sides with movable shelves, which 
can be drawn out for cleaning ; these shelves will be 
divided into separate compartments three feet long, two 
feet wide, and one foot high ; the sides should be made 
of galvanized iron wire ; so also the front, which forms 
a door. In each compartment ought to be a frame 
lined underneath with long fleece, the same as in the 
portable artificial mothers. In these compartments the 
chickens are placed from their birth up to a week or 
ten days old, after which they are put under the care of an 
artificial movable hen, in small establishments, or in thfe 
rearing home in large establishments. (See fig. 17.) 
These compartments ought to be covered with felt carpet, 
which must, however, be kept well cleaned, and occasion- 
ally dipped in boiling water. 




Fig. 14. 

The best way to supply food and water to so young 
chickens is by means of two saucers, one within the other, 
between which the food or water is put. This will pre- 
vent their wetting themselves or scratching the food about. 
(See fig. II.) 

This hatching-room will require no heating apparatus, 
as the heat from the hatching apparatus, which is kept in 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 



45 



the middle of this room, will keep the temperature sutti- 
ciently high during winter. 

Near the ridge of the roof ventilating frames should 
be fixed, and near the floor one or two sliding doors 
should be provided to allow of the admission of cold air. 

Chickens hatched in a dry atmosphere will never be 
so strong and healthy as those hatched in a moist temper- 
ature, as is evidenced by the difference in the appearance 
of a brood hatched in a loft and one hatched in a field ; 
and as a moist temperature is highly desirable it should 
be pi'ovided for in artificial hatching. 

Portable Artificial Hen for Hatching. 
The apparatus represented by fig. 15, although only 




Fig. 15. Perspective Elevation of Artificial Hen for Hatching 



4-6 



POULTRY BRHEDIXG IN 



calculated to hatch one egg per day, combines the same 
advantages as one capable of hatching a thousand eggs 
per day, and will answer all the requirements of an 
amateur breeder ; besides, it is so portable and convenient 
in its construction that it can be placed in a bed-room, 
which, while hatching, it will keep warm day and night, 
at an equal temperature, and the light from the gas or 
lamp will serve as a night-light. 




^^ 



Fig. 16. Transverse Section. 

From the above perspective elevation and section it 
will be seen that the hatching apparatus consists of 
separate parts. 

1. A glass-covered box. 

2. A water-tank. 

3. A floating vessel. 

4. A gas or oil lamp. 

The glass-covered box is made of japanned tin ; it has 
a glass door through which the light can be seen ; the 
bottom of this box Is perforated in the centre for the 
admission of air to the lamp, and the other part is car- 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 47 

peted to receive the chickens as they leave their shells. 
About twelve inches from the bottom are four brackets, 
to receive the water tank ; the lid has a perforated border 
for the escape of the vitiated air and steam from the 
water. The sides are provided with handles for carrying 
the box from one place to another, and it' stands on four 
knobs to allow a free passage of air underneath. 

The water-tank is made of tin, and a little smaller than 
the box, so as to allow about half an inch free passage of 
air all round. 

The floating vessel is also made of tin, and is a trifle 
smaller than the water-tank, so as to allow of its floating 
in it. The centre of this vessel has an oval opening, in 
which a registering thermometer is kept to show at all 
times the temperature of the water. The bottom of this 
vessel is covered about one inch deep with silver sand, on 
which the eggs are placed. By means of the central 
opening, and that between the tank, the temperature is 
kept in a constant moist state. The lamp can be for oil 
or gas, but gas is certainly preferable. 

The management of the apparatus is so simple that it 
can be attended to by a child, and only a very few direc- 
tions will be necessary : — 

1. Fill the tank with hot water till the floating vessel 
reaches the top level, then see that the water has a tem- 
perature of about one hundred and twelve degrees, after 
which light the lamp, and should the heat of the water 
increase, reduce the flame ; but if the temperature rises or 
decreases but slowly, it can be regulated by admitting 
more or less air through the door of the box. 

2, The principal point, however, is, that the tempera- 



48 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

ture on the sand should not vary much from one hundred / 
and five degrees, and it will be found that with water-heat 
of one hundred and twelve degrees, the sand will be one 
hundred and five, and on the eggs ninety-eight degrees. I 
For beginners, however, it is always best to put the ap- ) 
paratus in action a day or two before placing eggs in it. / 

3. Turn the eggs once or twice a day, and keep the/ 
water replenished as it evaporates. ^ 



Artificial Poultry' Hens for Rearing Chickens. 

Where poultry breeding is carried on as a commercial 
undertaking, and where it is intended to rear the great- 
est number of chickens with the least number of hens, 
and this without interfering with their laying, artificial 
mothers are of the utmost importance. 

The functions of a hen towards her chickens consist of 
forming a covering to prevent the natural heat of their 
unfledged bodies from cooling : also to break into small 
pieces any food that is too large for them ; and lastly, to 
protect them against danger. Now, my artificial hens not 
only do all this, but they perform the duties a great deal 
better, and with less casualties to the chickens. 

Most writers on poultry do not believe in artificial 
hatching or rearing ; yet might they as well doubt grow 
ing tropical fruits and plants in England. 

Chickens do neither require artificial heat nor that of 
their mother ; all that is necessary is to provide them with 
a suitable covering of their bodies until they are full 
fledged, to preserve their natural heat, the same as with 
infants. During cold weather, however, their homes 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OP VIEW. 

^:::::^:2jFt. ^ 



49 




50 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

must be warmed the same as for full-grown poultry ; then 
a good ventilation without draught, a dry floor, sun light, 
and a small run. 

The portable artificial mother, particularly recom- 
mended to breeders and amateurs, is shown by fig. 17. 
She performs her duties towai'ds her chickens with far 
greater success than a hen possibly could do. 



Reference to Perspective Section of Artificial 

Hen. 

v4 is a glass-covered frame three feet long, fifteen inches 
wide, two feet high at the apex, and twelve inches at the 
rise of the glass frame. This forms a dry run in wet and 
cold weather, c is an air-flue across the frame for the 
necessary ventilation, and formed of perforated zinc. At 
each end of this flue a ventilator is fixed, by which the 
admission of air can be regulated according to the tem- 
perature of the atmosphere. It will be apparent that 
chickens are not exposed to draught by this arrangement 
of ventilation. <^ is a frame lined with long fleece, under 
which the chickens will roost the same as under the 
wings of a hen, and will even prefer the artificial mother, 
as I have ascertained by exj^erience. e is about one inch 
deep of ashes, which may be sprinkled over v^ith flour of 
sulphur : they make a dry and warm footing, and retain 
the heat ; but they should be renewed or sifted once a 
week, y, the floor, should be slightly covered with sand 
and renewed every day. ^ is a small door, communicat- 
ing with the open run. h is a glass frame, made to open 
by means of a slide or by hinges. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 



SI 



B is the movable open run, six feet long, fifteen inches 
wide, and twelve inches high. It is made of galvanized 
iron wire, which not only keeps the chickens from dan- 
ger, but also prevents them from roaming. The artificial 
mother being portable should be taken in-doors every 
afternoon during the cold weather, and in the daytime 
should be placed on grass or dry land. However, for 
large breeding establishments, the arrangements would 
be different, and are explained in the " Artificial Rearing 
Home." 

Artificial Rearing Home. 

In poultry breeding establishments of any magnitude 
the portable artificial mother could not well be used with 
advantage ; its cost, and the labor that would be required 
for a proper attendance on the chickens, are obstacles 
which cannot be overlooked without loss to the breeder ; 
in fact, as I have stated before, in any large establishment 
a judicious arrangement for saving labor and for per- 
forming the work systematically by subdivision of labor, 
becomes of the utmost importance in a commercial point 
of view. Although the principles of the portable mother 
are strictly retained in the arrangement of the rearing 
home, yet it will be seen that where many thousand 
chickens have to be attended to in separate compartments 
containing not more than twelve each, the building, as 
shown by fig. i8, must necessarily facilitate the work of 
cleaning, feeding, warming, and general supervision. 



52 



POULTRY BREEDING IN 




Fig. 18. Artificial Bearing Home — Perspective Section. 

Reference to Perspective Section of Artificial 
Rearing Home. 

^ is a sunk passage lined by brick walls, the floor 
formed of concrete, with a provision for drainage ; along 
the whole length of this passage hot-water pipes should 
be fixed immediately under the roo sting-place a. A door 
communicates with the covered run ^, and wire netting is 
fixed over the door c for ventilation. The roof of this 
passage can either be glazed or formed of boards covered 
with asphalted felt, but provision must be made for an 
efficient ventilation. This passage should be about five 
feet wide between walls, and six feet high. 

B is the glass-covered run ; it differs from the portable 
hen only in this, that here the sides are formed of galva- 
nized iron wire, and only the front is made of boards ; the 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 



53 



floor is made of concrete, covered with gritty dust. This 
run can also with advantage be ixiade a Httle larger, say- 
four feet long, eighteen inches wide, and two feet six 
inches high. 

C is the open run ; the floor can be formed of concrete 
or gravel, with an incline towards a gutter for quick 
drainage. The sides and top can be made of galvanized 
iron wire, and on the same plan as shown in the poultry 
home (fig. 6). 

Artificial Vermin Nursery. 

This is a most useful department in a poultry breeding 
establishment, as it will supply the poor prisoners wiih 
those dainty little morsels which in their free state they 
will never tire to look after. 

It is well known that from the chicken to the old hen 
they prefer insects and worms to any grain — in fact, fowls 
are omnivorous, but their carnivorous appetite predomi- 
nates, and they would very soon become unfit for human 
food were they indulged in their predilection ; only in a 
free state they have to perform hard work in their search 
of insects and worms, of which, after all, they find but a 
scanty supply ; it would, therefore, not be advisable to 
give fowls in a confined state too much of animal food, 
but only in such quantities as will prove a stimulant with- 
out injury to their health. 

The effect on a fowl fed too freely on animal food be- 
comes soon perceptible ; she will pull out her feathers, and 
even peck her flesh until the whole of her upper body is 
one mass of raw flesh. 



54 



POULTRY BREEDING IN 





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Fig. 19. Section of Vermin Pit. 



It is not intended that vermin should replace the mince 
meat in the food for poultry, but it should occasionally 
be given in addition as dainty morsels in w^et or cold 
vi^eather. 

The vermin nursery is formed of a succession of pits 
vv^ith concrete bottoms and brick-lined sides ; the top is 
covered with a trap, to prevent the rain entering, vs^hich 
might kill the vermin. (See fig. 19.) 

To propagate vermin, put in alternate layers of mould 
and vegetable and animal matter, such as horse dung, 
garden refuse, entrails of animals, dead animals, blood, 
&c., until the pit is filled. In a short time fei'mentation 
will commence, and the mixture will soon be converted 
into a living mass of vermin. If the fermentation take 
too long, it may be hastened by watering. In winter it is 
well to cover the mixture with horse manure, which will 
keep the vermin warm and alive. 

This process of obtaining vermin is inexpensive, and it 
will be found very serviceable in winter for young chick- 
ens, and for stimulating the fowls to lay. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 



55 



Improved Fattening Pens for Cramming Poultry. 

These fattening pens are so constructed that they can 
be. placed in the open air, forming a building of them- 
selves. 




..^//V _><- -6-//V1 .>* 

Fig, 20. Perspective Elevation of Improved Fattening Pens for Cramming Poultry. 



^6 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

Each fowl has her own compartment, and is thus placed 
in solitary confinement, and without being able to see 
other fowls, which accelerates considerably the fattening. 

The floors of the cells should be drawn out daily, and 
cleaned and whitewashed ; they must then be returned 
with the dry underside uppermost, and some sand 
sprinkled on. The cells should also be whitewashed 
for every fresh occupant. 

The doors are solid boards, with a piece of perforated 
zinc for ventilation at the top, and a drinking-cup at the 
bottom. These pens combine all the sanitary require- 
ments for tlie speedy fattening of fowls. 

Preservation of Eggs. 

Much has been written about the preservation of eggs, 
and many are the suggestions, but none have as yet given 
satisfaction, and for the sole reason that the structure of 
the egg is not considered in relation to the physical and 
chemical laws which govern evaporation, permeation, 
and putrefaction. The shell of the egg being porous, 
to admit air to the chicken during the process of incu- 
bation, allows also part of the liquid to evaporate, and 
the air to permeate when they are not used soon after 
being laid, and the air acting on the animal matter 
produces early decomposition and putrefaction, particu- 
larly so in a fecundated egg, in which the germ is first 
decomposed. Clear eggs, the produce of hens who have 
not been with a cock, keep fresh much longer. This can 
easily be exemplified by putting an old fecundated egg 
and an old clear egg under a hen whilst sitting, when it 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 57 

will be found that after the twenty-first day the fecundated 
egg is putrid, and the clear egg fit for use. To exclude 
the air from the egg, and to prevent the evaporation of its 
liquid, it has been proposed by some writers to pack the 
eggs in salt, lime, bran, saw-dust, &c., by others to keep 
the eggs immersed in lime-water, in salt water, or both 
combined ; others, again, suggest to varnish or oil the 
eggs, and some even to parboil them. 

There can be no doubt that, were the object to be 
accomplished solely to preserve the eggs from getting 
putrid, some of these suggestions might be employed to 
advantage ; but there is more required than simply to 
preserve the egg from putrefaction ; for instance, for 
kitchen use, and the breakfast table, eggs ought not 
only to be preserved fresh, but aiso free from any foieign 
flavor, such as lime, salt, bran, saw-dust, varnish, and oil 
must necessarily impart to the egg thi'ough its porous 
shell ; and as for breeding from such preserved eggs, it 
is out of the question. Who has ever seen any chickens 
hatched from salted or mouldy eggs, or from such as 
have been varnished or oiled, which latter process stops 
up the pores through which the air, so indispensable to 
the formation and development of the chicken, must be 
admitted ? 

Now, the most effective, simple, and economical plan 
for truly preserving eggs, and without imparting to them 
any foreign flavor, or rendering them unfit for hatching 
purposes, is to use the patent stoppered glass jars, with 
vulcanized India-rubber joints (see fig. 3i), and proceed 
thus : — 

Immediately after collecting the eggs, put the jar in hot 



58 



POULTRY BREEDING IN 



water, and when thoroughly warm, so as to rarefy the air, 
place the eggs in the jar, the pointed end uppermost, and 
pack and line with paper shavings or cocoa fibres to 
prevent them from breaking ; then close the jar before 
taking it out of the water, and it will be found that eggs 
preserved by this method will be fit for hatching twelve 
months after, and that those intended for the breakfast 
table will be as fresh as on the day Vi^hen laid. 



0000^ 

ooooo 

oooooo 
oooooo 
oooooo 

200000, 



Whitewash. 

A large quantity of whitewash will necessarily be re- 
quired for sanitary purposes, but if prepared as follows, 
it will possess the advantages of preventing the wood 
from taking fire or from decaying. 

Dissolve in warm water sulphate of alumina (alum), 
sulphate of copper (blue vitriol), and mix with the 
whitewash. 

Lime Water 

Is most beneficial for an occasional drink to fowls ; it is 
a preventive of many diseases, and assists the formation 
of bone and eggs. Prepare as follows : — 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 59 

Pour over quicklime some warm water, and when the 
lime is slaked and settled, draw the clear water ofl"", which 
can be kept for a considerable time. The lime will be 
useful for whitewash. 

Oxide and Sulphate of Iron. 

Both these can be purchased cheap from any drysalter, 
but they are so easily prepared that they may as well be 
manufactured on the establishment. 

The oxide of iron (or rust) is most useful for making 
and improving the blood ; and the sulphate of iron, a 
weak solution containing a large quantity of oxygen, will 
keep fowls lively and assist digestion. Prepare as fol- 
lows : — 

Take a quantity of old nails or small pieces of iron, put 
them in an earthen-ware vessel, then pour over them sul- 
phuric acid diluted with water. The liquid will take up 
a certain quantity of iron, and form sulphate of iron or 
green vitriol. The rust (the oxide of iron) is obtained by 
mixing some diluted soda (carbonate of commerce) with 
the sulphate of iron. The oxide will then be precipitated, 
and the liquid forms sulphate of soda, which is a good 
liquid manure, which mix with the food or drink, as 
given under the heading of Food, pages 31 -33. 

General Plan of Buildings. 

A breeding establishment on the above scale will re- 
quire about four acres of land for the buildings. Six 
buildings, each three hundred feet long, will contain 



6o 



POULTRY BREEDING IN 



<- 200 FEET > 

Fig. 22. General Plan of Buildings. 

twelve hundred homes for poultry. (See fig. 22.) Then a 
building on each end, joining the six buildings, and which 
will be used for artificial hatching, stores, and all neces- 
saiy offices. The cost of the whole will be about three 
thousand pounds. An uninterrupted covered communi- 
cation is thus had with every part of the establishment, 
and the whole forms a quadrangle. 



Bird's-Eye View and Section of a Poultry- 
Breeding Establishment. 

In giving a description of the above plan for a poultry- 
breeding establishment, I feel compelled to notice certain 
observations on my system which appeared in a sporting 
paper. From beginning to end I clearly stated that I do 
not consider it possible to breed poultry profitably in 
large numbers on the present system^ whatever care 
might be taken in a sanitary point of view ; also that arti- 
ficial hatching is quite of a secondary consideration, only 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 6l 

to be resorted to during the time when hens are not 
broody, as I fully explained under the head of Natural 
Hatching, page 28. 

From the above sketch it will be seen that a glass- 
covered passage, six feet wide, which can serve as a 
vinery, communicates with the poultry homes on each 
side. These homes consist of two runs, each twelve feet 
long by three feet wide ; one is a closed run with gravel 
floor, the other an open run with horse manure. Above 
these two runs are two similar runs for chickens. These 
runs are enclosed with wire-work next to the passage and 
next to the field ; the partition between the runs is close- 
boarded, so as to keep the inner run warm during winter. 
Efficient ventilation is provided along the whole length 
of the glass-covered passage immediately above the runs. 

The glass-covered passage will form an excellent vinery, 
and this without any extra expense for building or warm- 
ing ; and the vines will necessarily absorb a large quan- 
tity of carbonic gas, and assist in keeping the air pure, 
and the soil will generate a genial, moist tempeiature, so 
essential to animal life. 

The above system of keeping poultry has, moreover, 
many other advantages, such as — 

Slow-feeding and weak fowls will be able to get suffi- 
cient food, which they cannot when a great number are 
fed together. The food can be supplied in the required 
quantity and quality to each breed or class, as it must be 
evident that the breeding and laying stock require a dif- 
ferent diet to chickens or poultry intended for the market. 

Each cock having only a certain number of hens allotted, 
they will be served better. 



62 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

The means of collecting and profitably using the poul- 
try manure. 

The constant renewal of the ground will prevent it 
getting tainted from the fowls' droppings. 

The temperature should be kept equal, .and cold and 
dampness prevented. 

Preventing diseases from exposure to cold, and wet, 
and contagion. 

Economy in food, as poultry will eat much less when 
warmly housed, and deprived of roaming about. 

Keeping breeds and sexes separate. 

Enabling precise statistics to be obtained as to the com- 
parative productiveness of the various breeds, and also in 
ascertaining what hens have ceased laying. 

The early detection of hens wanting to sit. 

Obtaining a larger number of eggs, and in seasons 
when most scarce. 

A genial temperature will induce the hens to sit, not- 
withstanding cold weather. 

This system, however, like all new systems, must be 
extended gradually, as old birds which have been accus- 
tomed to roam will fret and lose in appearance the first 
few months, but the young that are reared and fed on this 
system will thrive much better, and at less expense for 
food, than under the present mode. 

The annexed sketches, one for an improved self-supply- 
ing drinking fountain, and the other for supplying poul- 
taceous food without possibility of waste, are particularly 
recommended as most efficient : — 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 



63 





Fig. 23. Improved Drinking Fountain. 



(g5) 



%^ 



Fig. 24. Improved Feeding Trough for Poultaceous Food. 



The following will be found a useful form for keeping 
correct statistics of a poultry-breeding establishment : — 



64 



POULTRY BREEDING IN 



Laying Stock. 
Home No. 50 (cost price, each, 35. 6^.), 12 Spanish, 42 weeks old. 



I 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 
II 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 

17 
18 

19 
20 
21 
22 

23 
24 

25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 



Ib.oz. 
I 8 



Pints. 
12 






General Remarks. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 



65 



Thirty Chickens. 
Home No 60 (cost price, each, 3<f.)> Bramahs, 10 weeks old. 



May. 


Food. 


Cost 
per 
Pint. 


Died. 


lU. 


Sold. 


Cocks Hens. 


General Kemarks. 


I 

2 

3 
4 
5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 
II 

12 
13 
14 
IS 
16 

17 
18 

19 
20 

31 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 

27 
28 

29 
30 
31 


Pints. 
15 










16 


14 





66 



POULTRY BREEDING IN 



The Patent Vermin Attraction Trap. 

Poultry and chickens in farm-yards are exposed to great 
dangers from the number of vermin which are ever ready 
to pounce upon them in their unprotected condition ; the 
rat, weasel, marten, wildcat, and fox are equally de- 
structive ; therefore a trap to secure these pests, irrespec- 
tive of size, has long been felt a desideratum. 




Fig. 25. Patent Vermin Attraction Trap. 

From the above sketch it will be observed that the trap 
consists of an oblong box, the end of which draws out, 
and is provided with a looking-glass in the internal side, 
which attracts the vermin on looking in. 

The entrance of the trap is formed of two spring doors 
made of wire, which allow the vermin to enter with the 
least pressure. These doors have sharp points where 
they meet, which, although not felt by the vermin on 
entering, will prevent it from withdrawing after having 
once introduced its head. Near to the looking-glass a 
bait is suspended, and a cage is also fixed with a chicken 
to serve as a decoy. These traps are self-setting, simple, 
inexpensive, fit for all sizes of vermin, and safe for the 
house, farm-yard, or game preserve. 





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(70) 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. *]1 



THE LAWS OF NATURE 

In Relation to Poultry-keeping from a Cofumercial Poi^tt 
of View; and Answers to ^lestions. 

In my Preface I stated that I should confine myself 
exclusively to giving publicity to such facts as I have 
proved by actual experience. My knowledge of the 
world cautioned me not to introduce anything which 
might savor of theory, particularly to a class of readers 
who undoubtedly by their education are conversant with 
the laws of nature, on which facts are based. I was, 
therefore, but little prepared to have so many questions 
to answer, which more or less compel me to do that which 
I endeavored to avoid in fear of being considered pedantic. 
Though I feel flattered by the great interest my treatise 
has created, and though an explanation of the laws of 
nature will prove interesting to many, yet I trust that my 
correspondents will not consider it a want of deference on 
my part if I abridge as much as possible my explanations, 
but still with a due regard to giving a satisfactory reply to 
all inquirers. 

Egg Preserving. 

I . ^ziestion : Does it make any difference to j^reserve 
eggs a few days old? 

The egg comes from the hen at blood-heat, the liquid 
then fills every part of the shell, gradually the egg cools, 



72 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

and the air contained in the egg is condensed, thus leav- 
ing a vacuum. Now, as the shell is porous, and the pres- 
sure of the outer air much greater, it forces itself gradually 
through the pores of the shell until the equilibrium is 
reestablished, thus forming the depression of the fluid 
part observable in old eggs at the round end ; and as the 
contact of the air w^ith the fluid part very soon alters the 
taste, and renders them unfit for hatching from, it becomes 
essential that the eggs should be preserved as early as con- 
venient after being laid. 

2. Why shottld eggs be preserved better in rarefied 
air than by merely pa ckijtg them in air-tight jars? 

The variations in the temperature of the atmosphere 
from below freezing point to summer heat ai*e important 
considerations in preserving eggs. The elasticity and 
expansive properties of air need not be explained here, as 
they will require a full explanation under the questions in 
reference to regulating heat. I will, therefore, only say, 
that if an air-tight jar were closed up during cold weather 
without the air within being first rarefied, it would, pro- 
vided it remained air-tight, stand a good chance of burst- 
ing during the summer heat, which would expand the air 
in the jar, and the pressure on the eggs would be so great 
that a quantity of air would be forced on the fluid through 
the pores of the shell. Were it possible to preserve the 
eggs immediately on being laid at the temperature of 
blood-heat, and during the hottest summer days, the jars 
would not require rarefying ; but as such conditions are 
almost impossible to command, as the eggs must unavoid- 
ably on cooling absorb a certain amount of air, and as 
the atmosphere might become still warmer than on the 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 73 

day of filling the jars, it becomes necessary to rarefy the 
air in the jars even in summer, although not to such a 
degree as during cold weather. The air in the jar being 
thus rarefied, its permeation through the shell will not 
only be prevented, but the excess of air in the egg will 
actually be withdrawn mitil the equilibrium is reestab- 
lished. 

3. Are the eggs not affected by the heat whilst being 
packed? 

Although the jars are placed in boiling water, the in- 
ternal temperature never exceeds blood-heat, and as eggs 
are not aftected by that temperature, which is the same 
as that at which they come from the hen, it becomes 
only necessary to avoid packing the eggs against the jars 
without a lining of cocoa-nut refuse, which ought to be 
perfectly dry, and used warm for packing. 

4. How can you tell when ajar is air-tight? 

To ascertain whether a jar is air-tight when empty is 
easy enough ; it is merely necessary to fill the jar with 
boiling water, and when thoroughly warm to empty out 
the water, then close the jar quickly with the air-tight 
cover, and place it inverted in a tub of cold water. The 
air in the jar thus rarefied will be condensed by the cold 
water. If not perfectly air-tight, some water will find its 
way into the jar, which can be ascertained by opening the 
latter a few hours afterwards. This test, however simple, 
cannot be applied to filled jars, as it would be necessary 
to open the jars again. Now, this very same question I 
put to several pickling firms, and obtained the unsatis- 
factory reply that they consider when jars are air-tight 
when empty they will be equally so when filled. This, 



74 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

however, cannot be depended on, as the cover may fit in 
one place and not in another, or it may not be screwed 
down so much at one time as another. 

5. Can you at any period ascertazjz tvhether the Jars 
conthzue air-tight? 

6. Which are the best air-tight Jars, glass or stone 
ivare ? 

These two questions I will endeavor to answer under 
one head ; and to prevent my being considered to advo- 
cate one principle more than another from an interested 
motive, I must inform my correspondents that to most 
scientific men and poultry-breeders it is well known that 
egg preserving has formed the study of some of the most 
eminent chemists in Europe, and that until I published, 
through The Journal of Horticulture, my simple and 
yet the only truly effective mode of preserving eggs for 
any length of time, no satisfactory means had been dis- 
covered. The intense interest this discovery has created 
throughout England has induced me to ascertain which 
of the professed air-tight jars are really so, in order that 
the public may not lose their confidence in so important a 
discovery on account of the jars not being to be depended 
on. Through the kindness of an eminent firm in the 
Ipickling trade, I have been enabled to make experiments 
with the various so-called air-tight jars, few of which 
really were so, and all without exception objectionable 
on account of their construction. Then there came 
another important consideration : how can it be ascer- 
tained, when the jars are filled, whether they are air-tight, 
and how long they will remain so ? This, of course, was 
a perfect imoossib lity with the jars as at present manu- 
factured. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 



IS 



These important deficiencies in air-tight jars for pre- 
serving eggs have led me to invent a jar purposely for 
egg preserving, and which jar is not only perfectly air- 
tight, but it will show at a glance whejther it is so, and 
how long it remains so, by means of its patent pneumatic 
self-indicating cap. I have every reason to believe that 
these jars will remain air-tight for any number of years, 
and that the eggs preserved in them will remain as fresh 
as on the day they were laid, and fit for hatching and the 
breakfast table. Now, although such jars can also be 
made of glass, which would have the advantage of show- 
ing the eggs, yet when it is considered that glass is liable 
to crack when put into boiling water, particularly during 
cold weather, it is my opinion that glazed stone ware is 
preferable. 



Patent Pneumatic Self-indicating Air-tight Jars. 




From the above sketch it will be seen that the jar has 
two covers ; the inner is made of stone ware, with a ridge 



76 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

parallel to the neck of the jar, between which plaster of 
Paris or cement is poured, which soon gets hard and 
secures the lid, which prevents the eggs being jolted 
during transit ; the hole in this cover is to maintain the 
equilibrium of the air between the two covers and the 
interior of the jar. The outer cover is formed of the best 
India-rubber, with a strong ring of the same material, 
which fits in a groove. The mouth of the jar is four 
inches in diameter, which allows of quick packing. 

Packing the Eggs. 

Place the jars in boiling water for about ten minutes ; 
then plait a layer of well-dried and warm cocoa-nut 
refuse on the bottom, and pack the eggs, taking care not 
to let them come in contact with the sides of the jar ; as 
soon as the jar is filled, put on the inner cover, and pour 
some cement or plaster of Paris between the ridge and 
sides of the jar, then draw an India-rubber cap over the 
mouth of the jar, after which it should be immediately 
withdrav/n from the hot water and immersed in cold 
water, which will condense the rarefied air in the jar, 
when it will be found that the difi^erence of the atmospheric 
pressure is at least ten pounds to the square inch, which 
forces the India-rubber down to the inner cover ; and as 
long as it remains so it will be a sure index that the jar 
remains perfectly air-tight. The inner temperature of 
the jar, although placed in boiling water, will be found 
not to exceed blood-heat, which being the same at which 
the eggs come from the hen, they cannot be affected. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 77 



Why Eggs should be packed with the Small 
End upwards. 

This advice is so opposed to all published directions on 
the subject, that I feel bound to give my reason for it. 
Most persons will have observed that when an egg is 
boiled a vacuum is observed at the round end, which is 
more or less extensive according to the age of the egg ; 
now, this is on that part of the egg where the shell is 
most porous, and where the air is admitted most freely. 
This air chamber is of the utmost importance to the 
chicken whilst hatching, as it serves to equalize the 
supply of the necessary air under the variations of the 
outer temperature ; and it will be found that the chamber 
gets enlarged as the hatching proceeds ; therefore, when 
eggs are packed with the small end upwards, the liquid 
presses on the most porous part of the shell ; conse- 
quently, for the air to penetrate the egg, it would have 
to lift the weight of the fluid. 

Warming Poultry Homes. 

On this subject I have had many inquiries. I will 
therefore endeavor to give my i^easons why I prefer hot- 
water pipes fixed immediately under the I'oosting-perches. 
Where stoves or open fireplaces are used, the heat is con- 
centrated ; therefore the cold air rushes from all parts to 
that particular spot, which cold draughts are most inju- 
rious to the health of not only poultry but all animal life ; 
in fact, these cold draughts are the cause of most diseases 



^8 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

in England, where persons sit before an open fireplace, 
and right in the current of the cold air. Consumption, 
and colds of all description, could be considerably averted 
by a different mode of warming our houses ; but, though 
the hot-water system is not applicable to our private 
dwellings, it is eminently so for a poultry-house. The 
heat from the pipes is equally radiated from all parts of 
the building, and the pipes being immediately under the 
roosting-perches, it will not I'equire the maintenance of 
so high a temperature as when the pipes are near the 
floor, where not so much warmth is required, as it is 
well known that whilst the body is in motion the natural 
heat is sufficient to keep us warm, but that as soon as 
the body is at rest or asleep, the circulation of the blood 
becomes less active ; consequently it cools sooner, as is 
evidenced by the fact that the clothes that keep us warm 
in action are not sufficient to protect us from cold during 
sleep. There is another consideration why I prefer the 
pipes under the roosting-perches : it is because, being 
placed at mid-height of the roosting-room, they are 
between the heavy and light gases which are necessarily 
generated in all places where animal life is congregated. 

Our System of selling Poultry. 

This subject is of such vast national importance that it 
deserves the most serious consideration of all who take 
an interest in our national welfare ; it is not only on 
account of the immense sums we annually pay to for- 
eigners, but also on account of the enormous destruc- 
tion of poultry, which, under a different system of sale, 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VI fW. 79 

would become available for the people at a price to com- 
pete with butchers' meat. 

Thei'e is no country under the sun where obsolete 
customs or protective prices have been so successfully 
replaced as in England, and this against the most omi- 
nous prognostications. Need I enumerate the long list of 
articles, from the postage-stamp to tea? 

Up to this very day we are informed that the supply is 
always equal to the demand, even in poultry. Has it not 
always been so since the beginning of the world? But 
this is not the question. What is the result of our free- 
trade principles, our improved machinery, our improved 
agriculture? Why, a hundred-fold consumption of these 
very articles which were then, as now, said to be sup- 
plied according to demand ; a participation in the com- 
forts of this life by the poorer classes ; a steadier and 
more remunerative employment both of capital and labor. 
True, but there are no protective duties on poultry ; it is 
simply a question of price between dealer and customer. 
By appearance this looks fair enough, and the manner 
of sale is so old and deeply-rooted that it is accepted both 
by bi'eeder and the public as a perfectly fair way of deal- 
ing ; yet who w^ould ever purchase a leg of mutton, or 
a surloin of beef, at so much apiece? Why, the very 
poulterer who feels insulted if any person a>ks him what 
the fowl weighs would no more think of buyaig a joint by 
guess than he would of selling a fowl by weight. 

Next you will be told that poultry must always remain 
a choice morsel for the upper classes only, as the poor 
will never be able to afford the price ; that the production 
is, after all, limited, and that the climate of England is 



8o POULTRY BREEDING IN 

not suitable to cheap poultry breeding. Now, these asser- 
tions ai'e based on mere narrow-minded prejudices ; there 
is no climate in the world more favorable to animal life 
than that of England, as is proved by our statistics ; the 
very dampness of our climate prevents those extremes of 
cold and heat from which more southerly countries suffer ; 
and nowhere can fowls be produced to compete with ours 
in size and flesh ; and all travellers will agree with me that 
large-sized fowls can only be found in damp regions, 
while those of dry and hot soils, such as Egypt, are com- 
paratively small. As regards a limited production, I 
have shown in my treatise on " Poultry-keeping from a 
Commercial Point of View" that fifty thousand fowls can 
be reared per annum on four acres of land, and at highly 
remunerative prices, and much below that of butchers' 
meat. Poulterers will, moreover, maintain that poultry 
is exceptional ; that it cannot possibly be sold by weight ; 
that the price must necessarily depend on age, breed, 
quality, and feeding, and cannot be classed. Believe it 
not. Have we not beef, mutton, pork, &c., from four- 
pence to a shilling per pound, according to quality? Is 
not every produce now sold, according to its intrinsic 
value, by weight or measure? And why should poultry 
form the exception ? I am very much mistaken if tne 
public will not be able to purchase chickens at the price 
of Ostend rabbits within two years. Let the public once 
see tickets in shop windows, prime chickens at sixpence 
per pound, or at any other price, according to quality, 
and you will find the commendable wish of Henry IV. of 
France realized, that every family shall be able to have a 
fowl for their Sunday dinner. Why, it will create such 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 51 

a revolution in the national production and consumption 
of poultry as the world never witnessed before. People 
would then begin to understand and appreciate the value 
of poultry, which, up to this day, is kept either merely as 
a matter of fancy or a necessary adjunct to a farm-yard, 
but whose productiveness is disputed by many. 

What is the result of our present system of selling 
poultry? Why, that tons of poultry are annually de- 
stroyed because sufficient customers cannot be found to 
pay the fancy prices. This system is neither fair to the 
breeder, the dealer, or the public. The first consign a 
quantity of poultry to a salesman, and obtain but a poor 
return ; the second's percentage is naturally in keeping 
with a limited sale, and the public are obliged to pay 
.fancy prices, or forego an article of food which ought to 
be within the reach of even the mechanic. As the first 
commercial nation in the world, we ought not to purchase 
food in foreign markets when we can produce it at home. 
At the present time poultry is collected from all parts of 
the country by higglers, who consign it to a salesman, 
from v/hom the poulterers purchase at so much a head : 
sometimes the demand is good, and fair sales are effected ; 
other times the supply is too great ; then the poultry past 
keeping is sold at a nominal price to costermongers 
(rather than have it condemned by the market inspector), 
who, in the garb of countrymen, hawk it about the 
suburbs of London in a state unfit for human food. 

By the immense importation of eggs and rabbits, 
foreigners have shown us how to proceed to alter our 
system of selling poultry. When they found that poulter- 
ers would not agree to their terms, they made arrange- 
6 



82 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

ments with cheesemongers, dairies, chandler-shops, and 
others, and the result is, that in season the people can now 
purchase twenty-four eggs for a shilling, rabbits at six- 
pence per pound. 

If, therefore, it pays the foreigners to collect these arti- 
cles of food abroad, to pay carriage, freight, agency dues, 
and all other expenses connected with such vast importa- 
tions, does it not seem passing strange that we, as a 
nation, do not even try to see what we can do for our- 
selves ? 

Now, what I propose is this : that when once a poultry- 
breeding company is foi*med, that the directors should 
invite cooperation from poultry-breeders in general, and 
establish an agency in all the principal towns for supply- 
ing poultry to such shopkeepers only who will undertake 
to sell it by weight ; this will now be of no great diffi- 
culty, as those who sell rabbits would at once undertake 
the sale of poultry. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF S^IEW. 83 



EXTRACTS 

FROM THE "JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND 
COTTAGE GARDENER." 

Home Supply of Poultry and Eggs. 

How long does it take for a question to go througli all 
its phases, to settle down as a recognized fact before the 
public, with the certainty that it will only be disturbed now 
and then, at stated periods, to be ventilated according to 
some, or to have the accumulated dust of years rubbed off 
according to others ? Fourteen years ago, the public one 
day recognized the fact, that poultry was a pursuit, that it 
was deserving of encoui"agenient, and then some thought 
it was a mania. The pursuit of the trade of a " poulter" 
is not one of yesterday. Its Guild or Company ranks 
among the ancient ones of the city of London. It has in 
its day lent money to the Sovereign of the United King- 
dom. It still exists, and has its chartered rights ; and its 
bequests and benefactions go back to the sixteenth cen- 
tury. It seems now as if its claim to a share in providing 
food for the vast populations in the metropolis and large 
towns were about to be properly considered. We are no 
longer self-supporting in the way of food. Many of us 
can recollect in one of the old Anti-Gallican songs it was 

said, — 

Thej want to get our flesh and 1: lood, 

Our beef and beer. 



84 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

Thi.igs are altered — we get a good quantity of theirs; 
and half the continent is laid under contribution to supply 
our carnivorous propensities. Good sound men of figures 
prove that the supply of food decreases ; others point to 
an increasing population, and the increasing price of 
meat. The leading journal of the world but lately called 
attention to the figures of our imports in the way of food, 
and was obliged to pause at one item. " A million of 
eggs imported for every working day in the year ; " 
turkeys by thousands ; rabbits by the ton. These are 
helps to the food necessary to feed the metropolitan mil- 
lions ; but the question naturally suggests itself, Do we do 
all in our power to provide more of these things at home? 

The egg trade with Scotland is becoming a very large 
one. We import eggs from France, Holland, Belgium, 
Switzerland, and part of Italy. Cannot we do something 
towards providing ourselves with these valuable luxuries, 
and thereby not only increase the number, but probably 
decrease the price of them? We have in our favor, and, 
consequently, to our profit, all the expense of foreign 
agents, of travelling, freight, carriage, and dues. With 
eggs produced at home, nearly all this would be avoided.. 
If those who can keep poultry will not keep them, then 
those who have the inclination without the convenience 
must endeavor by association to find out the means of 
carrying out their theories and ideas on the subject. 

We believe we are correct in stating that plans are 
now afoot which will, in all probability, result in calling 
public attention to the subject, and in giving the question 
a fair trial on a large scale. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 8^ 



Poultry and Egg-preserving Company. 

Whatever differences of opinion may exist as to whether 
poultry can be kept pi-ofitably in England from a strictly 
commercial point of view or not, it is certain that this 
subject will never be satisfactorily decided by any amount 
of mere theoretical assertions pro or co/i ; nor will the 
problem ever be solved in a national point of view by the 
success of one or more private persons, whose balance- 
sheet would be discredited by many sceptics, as we have 
had ample evidence, in improved farming, the results of 
which were published year after year by Mr. Mechi and 
other pioneers. Moreover, to render poultry breeding 
profitable in England, it must be evident to most persons 
that the system cannot be carried on as it is now ; also 
that the trial must be made on a somewhat extensive 
scale to allow of growing or purchasing food' at a cheap 
rate, and of a subdivision of labor, and last, but not least, 
for establishing a profitable outlet for the produce. Now, 
there are many undei'takings which cannot well be tested 
on a small scale in order to prove what the result would 
be on a large one, and we believe that poultry breeding 
in England is one of them. 

It is too much to expect that any private gentleman 
would run the risk of an outlay of some thousands of 
pounds to ascer''-';in the value of a new plan of breeding 
poultry in order to benefit the nation ; but as the subject 
is really one of national importance, it is highly desirable 
that it should command a fair trial. This can be best 
accomplished by a public company, whose accounts would 



86 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

be audited by independent accountants, and the statistics 
of which would be rehable, ^nd, consequently, valuable 
to the country at large. 

In a former number it was stated that plans were afoot 
which would, in all probability, result in calling public 
attention to the subject, and in giving the question a fair 
trial on a large scale. Since then the preliminary pros- 
pectus and the plans have been issued. 

Mr. Geyelin has evidently the utmost confidence in the 
success of the undertaking, as he has taken on himself the 
trouble and expense of bringing this subject fairly before 
the public ; and he gives the free use of his inventions to 
the Company, not for a cash consideration, but for shares 
the value of which must entirely depend on the profitable 
result of his system of poultry keeping. 

A Company of this description requires only half a 
dozen gentlemen earnest in their efforts to carry out the 
proposed system. On our part we shall watch the result 
of this long-vexed question, Can poultry be bred profit- 
ably in England? with great interest, for if successful, 
poultry will be sold, as it ought to be, by weight, like 
other articles of food. 

Home Supply of Eggs and Poultry, 

Is there any valid reason why England should not sup- 
ply her ovrr, wants in the shape of eggs, poultry, and 
rabbits? I dare say the money we pay foreign countries 
for these necessaries, does not fall far, if at all, short of 
five hundred thousand pounds annually. Can they not 
be produced as cheaply, abundantly, and profitably at 



A ck mmercial point of view. 87 

home as in France and Belgium? Is it not time that 
some efforts should be made to solve this problem? I 
am aware much has been done for the last few years to 
improve the breeds of our poultry, but I have never heard 
of the production of eggs and poultry having been at- 
tempted in a large way, as a matter of trade or business, 
though I have often been told that to make this stock pay 
they should be kept in such numbers as to employ the 
whole time and attention of working people. M. de 
Lavergne estimated the value of poultry in France at 
eight million pounds, while that in England was no more 
than eight hundred thousand pounds. 

As a national branch of rural economy, we know 
nothing in England of the breeding and management of 
poultry : hence practical men never think of embarking in 
a pursuit which is found so profitable in other' countries. 

We sadly want sound, reliable, practical information 
on this subject, and if through your columns some of 
your correspondents will endeavor to ventilate this ques- 
tion, much public good may be the result. 

If one acre of average land were cropped with the 
grain, pulse, and roots, most suitable for feeding poultry, 
how many heads should it maintain for one year? 
Again : What might be a fair moderate profit to expect 
per thousand in keeping poultry thus on a large scale, 
assuming suitable houses, warmth, care, and ventilation 
for such stock? 

I have heard and read much on the subject of artificial 
incubation, and I knew a lady who produced all her own 
poultry by a most ingenious incubator of her own inven- 
tion ; but I never could ascertain how far the system could 



05 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

be relied on in a comn>ercial point of view, which is the 
practical test of its merit. If undoubtedly a success, then 
I can see no limits to the profitable production of poultry 
in England. Turkeys and geese of the lai'gest breeds 
are now worth very nearly as much as a fat sheep of the 
smallest breeds, and it is passing strange that you must 
give two pence for a " new-laid egg," when you may buy 
a quarter of wheat for thirty-two shillings. High author- 
ities tell us it does not pay to feed oxen, and farmers now 
say they are selling grain at prices for which it can ha^-dly 
be grown ; so I am induced to ask if the experiment of a 
regular and well-managed poultry farm would be likely 
to succeed ; for if so I should be very well inclined to try 
if England cannot produce eggs and fowls as cheaply as 
France ; and, further, if the air of our own happy land is 
not fully as congenial as that of Belgium to an — Ostend 
Rabbit. 

Poultry Keeping from a Commercial Point of 
View. 

It is for Englishmen to determine whether England is 
capable of profitably supplying eggs and poultry for her 
own consumption ; but I am painfully surprised to notice 
how very few seem to take an interest, in the subject, 
which you have been pleased to bring befoi'e your numer 
ous readers with laudable zeal and perseverance. When 
I had the honor of addressing you in No. 304, I was in 
total ignorance of the highly interesting discussion raised 
by Mr. Geyelin, whose ability and industry entitle him to 
public sympatliy and support, at least to the extent of 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 89 

fairly trying if it be commercial!}^ possible for England to 
feed her own people. He goes very fully into figures to 
show this may be profitably done. Some few, and I re- 
gret to say but very few, of your numerous correspondents 
seem to notice his remarks, though none can doubt their 
importance. This is not very creditable to the poultry 
amateurs of England, who are ever ready to discuss most 
zealously and learnedly about the breeds of fowls, or the 
proper colors of cocks' legs and tails, but who seem to ig- 
nore such practical dry business- details as the produce of 
hens and the cost of feeding them. 

These are mere questions of detail, and resolve them- 
selves into a matter of pounds, shillings, and pence ; but 
the success of Mr. Geyelin's project depends entirely on 
the amount and cost of production and the market value 
of the produce. 

It is not for me to interfere between Mr. Geyelin and 
" C. S.J. ; " so I leave them to settle as they can, for it is 
evident both mean well, though differing considerably in 
their views. I must, however, notice two correspondents 
in No. 206, one " An Old Subscriber," on the wholesale 
price of eggs, the other " Barndoor," on poulti-y food and 
annual egg produce. Both are apparently adverse to 
Mr. Geyehn's figures, but in point of fact ne'ther seems 
to affect him in- any way. His scheme only refers to 
London prices, and to the productive powers of hens fed 
and lodged, so as to stimulate the utmost powers of pro- 
duction. It is but fair to Mr. Geyelin and the public to 
use the utmost candor and sincerity, so as to put the case 
fairly. He fixes the produce of hens fed on his plan 
at one hundred and eighty, while " Barndoor " writes. 



90 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

" Cochins, Bramahs, &c., should lay one hundred and 
twenty eggs in a year." True, but how many more may 
be reasonably expected? Does "Barndoor" give this as 
the actual result of his own experience? If so, will he 
say how the hens were treated, their ages, &c. ? I admit 
the mere opinion of one man, or even his practical ex- 
perience, can carry but very little weight ; I can, how- 
ever, quote some well-known authorities which fully 
sustain Mr. Geyelin's calculations about the produce of 
hens, while but one goes so low as one hundred and 
tvv'enty, the figure of " Barndoor," for the best known 
egg-producing breeds. Cobbett says eleven hens should 
give two thousand eggs and one hundred chickens, if 
well fed, in one year, and allows eighteen bushels of 
barley to feed them with one cock. Richardson relates 
that three Polish pullets laid five hundred and twenty-four 
eggs, cost sixteen shillings and six pence. Baxter records 
that four hens laid seven hundred and ten eggs one year, 
at a cost of one pound two shillings and a penny half- 
penny, and five hundred and ninety-four the next year, at 
fifteen shillings and nine pence halfpenny. 

In the work called " Farming for Ladies," we read, 
" Hens lay nearly all the year round, except when moult- 
ing and in the depth of winter ; but generally speaking at 
least ten to twelve or fourteen dozen eggs a year may be 
counted on." I dare say the experience of most of your 
readers will differ quite as much as that of those writers, 
so much depends on the peculiar circumstances of each 
case. In my opinion a fair average can be taken only by 
the actual results obtained by a large number of the most 
careful breeders, who keep their poultry in the best and 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VfEW. 9 1 

cheapest way. I am in candor bound to add, that in 
"Chambers' Information for the People" it is broadly 
laid down that no hens will pay for their food if it is all 
purchased. 
' This question is strictly a national one, for it is most 
important to ascertain by actual experiment if eggs and 
poultry may be produced by ourselves as cheaply as by 
various nations immeasurably behind us in everything 
relating to agriculture. If Mr. Geyelin can succeed in 
teaching Englishmen that this may be done, then few 
will deny his claim to be fairly considered a national 
benefactor. At present his task is not an easy one. As 
it is really the duty of every well-wisher of his country to 
aid this noble eflbrt by every practical means, so your 
experienced readers should each contribute, as far as he 
can, to simplify this question by clearing up the doubts 
and difficulties that surround it. Men are naturally timid 
and shy of embarking their money in any novel experi- 
ment of which they have but very scanty knowledge ; and 
which of us can say that he has any knowledge of thus 
producing eggs and poultry commercially in England? 
For the present I shall say nothing about the little animal 
which is well knov/n to be a decided commercial success 
in Belgium, where many are largely engaged in breeding, 
feeding, and exporting to hungry, wealthy England the — 
OsTEND Rabbit. 

Poultry and Egg Company. 

By nature I am a timid and cautious man, and dread 
to see my opinion appear in print ; I feel, however, I 



'92 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

must make an exception in favor of Mr. Geyelin, whose 
interesting articles on poultry-breeding, published in your 
valuable journal, I have read with much pleasure and ad- 
vantage. For some years past I had an idea of breeding 
poultry on a large scale, but the dread of becoming the 
laughing-stock of my neighbors in case of failure has 
hitherto deterred me from doing so. When I saw the 
advertisement in your journal for the formation of a 
Poultry-breeding and Egg-preserving Company, I deter- 
mined to come up to London and see Mr. Geyelin, with 
a view to elicit full particulars, as I consider that such a 
company would, if formed, supply me at a trifling risk 
with such practical information as I could not expect from 
personal experience at a much greater outlay. 

Mr. Geyelin has very kindly explained to me his plans, 
his mode of keeping accounts, and feeding. In fact, he 
has given me such ample and satisfactory explanations 
that I feel in justice bound to say that if ever a plan 
appeared to me feasible it is that of Mr. Geyelin. The 
solution of the problem whether poultry can be bred as 
profitably in England as on the Continent is of national 
importance ; it behooves, therefore, all persons who take 
an interest in poultry breeding to contribute to some ex 
tent towards the expense of making the experiments. 1 , 
for one, subscribe for ten shares of five pounds each ; and 
let the result prove even a failure, I shall still consider it 
a good investment, as it will have been the means of ob- 
taining at least some valuable information ; but should it, 
on the other hand, prove a success, it will confer a great 
benefit on the country. There are opportunities in life 
which, if allowed to pass, may never present themselves 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 93 

again under such favorable circumstances. At the pres- 
ent moment there is a gentleman, not only willing, but 
able, to make the experiment on scientific principles, and 
whose statistics, if kept according to the plan I have seen, 
will be so precise as to become most valuable to every 
poultry breeder. If we lose this opportunity, shall we 
ever have the like again? 

Shall it be said that Englishmen are so little enterpris- 
ing that we prefer to purchase in foreign markets rather 
than ascertain at a trifling individual expense whether we 
cannot supply our own wants in the shape of eggs, poul- 
try, and rabbits ? — A Sussex Farmer. 

Poultry Keeping from a Commercial Point of 
View. 

"Nemo," the defender of " C. S. J.," has my best 
thanks for his kindly lecture as to what is required to 
establish the success of anything nowadays. I do not 
find fault with his opinion as regards the profits poultry 
breeding will yield, and in the absence of any actual 
statistics of my system on a large scale, I can only reiter- 
ate what I stated in my reply to " C. S. J." There are, 
however, a few assertions with which I beg to differ, even 
with " Nemo." 

1st. Were it not for sanguine minds, few improvements 
would ever be carried out ; and were even the minimum 
profits given, there would still be found many persons who 
would, with just as good reasoning, reduce it below zero. 

2d. The artificial hatching can be entirely dispensed 
with in my system, as for every one thousand hens, I can 



94 POULTRY BREEDHIG IN 

rear at least ten thousand chickens ; and under any cir- 
cumstances it will only be resorted to to hatch chickens 
when hens have ceased to be broody. As to whether my 
system of artificial hatching is superior to that of Cantelo 
or any other, I may state that I do not claim any original- 
ity, but rest the success only on the well-known law of 
a uniform temperature, at which there is not the slightest 
difficulty to hatch chickens ; and this uniform heat can be 
maintained either by manual or mechanical means, which 
are well known to engineers, and which will be described 
in some subsequent number of this journal, under the 
laws of nature in relation to poultry keeping. The fail- 
ure of Cantelo and others cannot be ascribed to the hatch- 
ing, but solely to the rearing of the chickens. Now, this 
is my system, and on it I rest the success of poultry 
breeding ; and though I do not intend to rely on artificial 
hatching, yet I shall entirely depend on artificially rearing 
all the chickens, whether hatched by a hen or by an ap- 
paratus. 

3d. My system of breeding poultry, and its profits, can 
no more be judged by the present mode than railway 
travelling, when first projected, could from the old stage- 
coaches. For its success it will require a staff of servants, 
and a subdivision of labor, then a good disciplinarian as 
superintendent ; and the whole will form a piece of mech- 
anism which will work with the greatest precision, and 
afford such statistics as will surprise sceptics. To carry 
this out is a mere matter of money and will, whether by 
a private individual or a public company ; but the idea 
of an association of working partners to attend to fowls is 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 95 

simply ridiculous, and I doubt whether, if they could be 
found, they would long remain a united family. 

4th. If "Nemo" will take the trouble to read the arti- 
cle on natural hatching. No. 19S, he will find that I advo- 
cate natural hatching and artificial rearing. Has it ever 
occurred to him, in estimating the annual profit of a hen, 
to charge to her credit the hatching of one or two broods ? 
which surely is more valuable than the number of eggs 
she could lay in twenty-one days. 



96 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

REPORT OF MR. GEYELIN, 

May 17, 1865. 

Gentlemen : 

The nation will owe you a debt of gratitude for having 
by your discriminating confidence in my plan proved 
yourselves the pioneers to an increase of our national 
wealth and comfort. 

The section of the intended building you have inspected 
to-day must have convinced you that, whilst constructed 
on the most economical plan, it yet combines all necessary 
requirements for the health and comfort of poultry, and 
the saving of labor. 

We are not about to carry out any new invention in 
poultry breeding, but merely a wise combination of well- 
established facts ;. individually the facts are well known, 
but a combination of them apjjlied to poultry breeding 
has hitherto escaped the notice of rural economists. For 
instance, it is well known, — 

That earth is the best and cheapest deodorizer. 

That poultry manure is a first-rate fertilizer. 

That in moderation the gases generated by vegetables 
are beneficial to anima 1 life, and vice versa. 

That poultry require vegetables, and vegetables manure. 

That poultry cannot thrive on a manure-tainted ground, 
which consequently requires frequent renewing. 

That the earth requires manuring after each crop. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 97 

Now, when the above well-known facts are considered 
in connection with poultry breeding, it must become evi- 
dent to the most superficial observer that to render it a 
commercial success, we must follow more closely the great 
teachings of Nature : in truth, the animal and vegetable 
kingdoms are so closely allied, and so dependent the one 
on the other, that to treat each as a distinct undertaking 
must necessarily increase the expense of production, and 
consequently decrease the profit. 

I will now briefly review poultry breeding and vegeta- 
ble growing as separate undertakings, in a commercial 
point of view, in order to show that in sound rural econ- 
omy the two ought to be combined, both for sanitary and 
economical purposes. 

Poultry Breeding. 

In any establishment where large numbers of poultry 
ai'e kept, the ground must often be renewed to prevent it 
getting tainted ; this requires labor and materials. Now, 
there is only one material which combines all the require- 
ments for the floor of a poultry home, and with which 
Providence has supplied us bountifully, namely, earth. 
It is composed of all the necessary materials to the an- 
imal economy of the poultry ; it is of a deodorizing 
nature ; and, when tainted with the manure, becomes 
a valuable fertilizer ; but even earth can absorb but a 
moderate amount of decaying matters without losing its 
valuable properties ; and, in this again, Nature teaches 
us that what is beneflcial in moderation becomes injurious 
in excess. Then comes the question of a cheap supply 
7 



98 POULTRY EIIEEDING IN 

of earth, and of the disposal of the tainted without caus- 
ing a nuisance by its accumulation. In this, also, Nature 
comes to our assistance : we know that by growing vege- 
tables in manure-tainted land they absorb and feed on the 
noxious gases, and give out in return oxygen gas, so es- 
sential to the health of animal life. Thousands of tons 
of manure, decaying vegetable and animal matters, are 
annually buried in the earth ; and yet how sweet the air 
of the fields ! Therefore, if by growing vegetables we can 
convert an expensive and objectionable material int-o a 
beneficial and profitable one, should we not be to blame 
were we not to take advantage of what we are offered by 
Nature ? Next comes the land necessary for the poultry 
homes. In a sanitary point of view, these buildings ought 
to stand at least fifty feet apart, to allow for an efficient 
supply of fresh air, light, and sun ; ought we to lose the 
advantage of rendering profitable land so conveniently 
situated, when three fourths of the poultry food should 
consist of green vegetables? The poultry homes must 
also be heated by hot-water pipes in winter ; and why 
should we not render them serviceable in summer for 
irrigating or watering the land between the buildings? 
Lastly, why should the laborers of the poultry estab- 
lishment not be profitably employed in their leisure time 
in attending on the adjacent land? 

Vegetable Growing or Market Gardening, 

I believe, is generally admitted to be highly profitable, 
and that a quick succession of crops can only be obtained 
^rom a plentiful supply of rich manure. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 



99 



A market gardener is obliged to purchase his manure, 
to pay labor, rent, and taxes ; he has no valuable use for 
his waste or weeds ; the worms and slugs are destructive 
to his crops, and in dry weather he is either obliged to 
incur great expenses for watering, or sustain the destruc- 
tion of his plants. 

Poultry Breeding and Vegetable Growing. 

Poultry breeding and vegetable growing ought, there- 
fore, to be carried on conjointly, as the waste, weeds, 
inferior vegetables, worms, and slugs are valuable food 
for poultry ; and the profit derived from choice vegetables 
ought to pay for the poultry's keep ; under any circum- 
stances this plan cannot be considered mere theory, as it 
must be obvious that where both branches are profitable 
separately, they must be still more so carried on conjointly 
and contiguously 



Estimate of Revenue and Expenses 

For the Tear beginning July i, 1865, and ending 
June I, 1866. . 



Expenses 

Cost of Buildings * . . . 
Cost of Plant and Materials 
Cost of Stock as per annexed Details 
Food and Working Expenses 

Total 



£ s. d. 

500 o o 

300 o o 

125 o o 

889 10 o 

£1,814 10 o 



* As at present projected, the building will be three hundi-ed 
feet long, and contain fifty homes for fowls, and fifty for chickens ; 
every home will consist of two rooms, one open and one closed, 
each twelve feet long and three feet wide. 



lOO 



POULTRY BREEDING IN 



REVE3SrUE. 

£ s. d 

Value of Buildings . 500 o o 

Value of Plant and Materials 300 o o 

Value of Old Stock 125 o o 

Value of Young Stock 2,500 o o 

From Eggs ' 4^6 13 4 

£3^841 13 4 
Deduct Expenses 1,814 10^ 

Leaving a Net Profit of ... • £2,027 3 4 



Proposed Stock. 

Laying Stock. 

Cocks. Hens. 
— 400 Common Fowls, at 3s. eaoh 

Breeding Stock. 

Creve Coeur 
La Fleche 
Houdan 
Dorkings, gray 

" partridge 

Cochins, buif 

" partridge 

Bramahs, light 

" dark 

Spanish, black 
Hamburghs, golden 
" silver 

Poland, black 

" golden 



Which will produce 
about 6120 Eggs for 
hatching, taken at 
an average of 120 
. Eggs for each Hen 
per annum, and al- 
lowing 1 1 20 Eggs 
for casualties, will 
give 5000 Chickens. 



14 51 = 65 Birds, at 205. each 
Total Cost of Stock . 



60 o o 



6s o o 



£125 o o 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. lOI 

As the Company's object is to sell eggs as well as rear 
poultry, the proportion of the above laying stock to the 
breeding stock will be found the most economical. Tak- 
ing the average of eggs from a hen to be one hundred and 
twenty per annum, this gives about fifty thousand eggs 
from the laying stock, besides hatching about five thou- 
sand eggs from the breeding stock, allowing even only one 
sitting per annum to each hen ; and as chickens begin to 
lay at six months old, and making a fair allowance for 
male birds, we may anticipate fifty thousand eggs from 
them within tloe next twelve months. 

Working. 

Expenses. 

£ s. d. 
Keep of 465 Old Birds, at 6s. per head . . . 139 10 o 

Keep of 5,000 Chickens till twelve months old, at 35. 

per head . . . . . . . . 750 o o 



8S9 10 o 
Revenue. 

100,000 Eggs, at id. each 416 13 4 

5,000 Chickens, at 105. each 2,500 o o 



2,916 13 4 
Deduct above Expenses 889 10 o 



Leaving a Net Profit of . . . . £2,027 10 o 

Thus taking the cost price of the parent birds at twenty 
shillings each, and the young ones only at ten shillings 
each, we obtain in the first year a most valuable stock, 
part of which we can dispose of, as well as the stock of 
common fowls. 



I02 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

In the foregoing I have made no alkision to artificial 
hatching, which can be entirely dispensed with in an 
establishment where the object is not to rear poultry 
only, but also to produce eggs for the market ; and you 
will perceive that the commercial success does not depend 
on artificial hatching, but on a judicious system of housing, 
feeding, and rearing poultry ; yet we shall avail ourselves 
of artificial hatching at a period of the year when it is 
highly profitable to hatch chickens, and at a time when 
hens are not broody ; but even at the most inclement 
season I anticipate that we shall have a great number 
of broody hens, on account of the genial temperature we 
shall be able to maintain in the building. 

As regards the provisions made to rear chickens with 
less casualties than by the present system, I doubt not 
that they will prove as satisfactory as they are eco- 
nomical. 

I remain, Gentlemen, 

Your obedient Servant, 

Geo. K. Geyelin. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF V-EW. IO3 



REPORT OF MR. GEYELIN 

ON 

THE POULTRY ESTABLISHMENTS IN FRANCE. 

July io, 1865. 

Gentlemen : 

Having at your request undertaken a journey to 
France with a view to promote the interest of our 
Company, I now beg to lay before you my observa- 
tions on the subject, and which for more conciseness 
I have arranged under the following headings : — 

1. The Object of the Voyage. 

2. Natural and Artificial Incubation. 

3. Rearing Poultry in France. 

4. Fattening and Feeding. 
> 5. Killing and Dressing. 

6. Utilizing the Waste Products. 

7. The System of Selling. 

8. The Distinct Breeds. 

9. Caponage and Virgin Cocks. 

10. Opinions on my System of Poultry Breeding and 

Rural Economy. 

11. Analysis of iny Observations. 



104 POULTRY BREEDING IN 



I. The Object of the Voyage. 

The primary object of the voyage was to ascertain 
everything connected with poultry breeding in France, 
which might assist in promoting the success of our 
undertaking ; also to inquire into the truth of numerous 
assertions in the public papers, that there existed in the 
vicinity of Paris most extensive Gallinocultural estab- 
lishments, which by their particular system of artificial 
incubation, rearing, and feeding poultry on horseflesh, 
realized in one instance, viz., in that of M. de Soras, 
upwards of £40,000 per annum. I need scarcely sa^ 
that, after the most searching investigation within a 
radius of forty miles of Paris, my opinion has been 
fully confirmed that such establishments do not nor 
can possibly exist ; moreover, I can now firmly assert 
that there is not one establishment in existence within 
fifty miles of Paris where poultry breeding is carried 
on otherwise than on the old farm system ; in fact, as 
you will perceive hereafter, I have spared neither time 
nor expense in this inquiry : yet, although I have been 
unable to trace anything like a system in poultry breed- 
ing in France at all approaching to that we are about 
to carry out, it cannot be denied that I have obtained 
very valuable information, which will, no doubt, prove 
of great advantage to our Compan}' : moreover, I ob- 
served such startling novelties connected with poultry 
breeding in France, that I deemed it to the interest of 
our society that at least two of the directors should 
come there also to enable them to corroborate this 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. I05 

report, which otherwise might have borne the apj^ear- 
ance of exaggeration in many respects, and perhaps 
have still left a doubt in the mind of many persons 
whether I really made all possible inquiries into the 
truth of the reported existence of Gallinocultural estab- 
lishments in France. 

I will now briefly relate the steps I have taken to 
inquire into this matter. At the Jardin des Plantes of 
Pai-is, which corresponds to our Zoological Society in 
Regent's Park, also at the Acclimatation Society in the 
Bois de Boulogne, where the various breeds of poultr}- 
form an important object, the existence of any such 
Gallinocultural establishments in France was totally un- 
known ; and they observed very justly that if any such 
really were to exist, they would be the first to know 
of it. Next I called three consecutive market days at 
the wholesale poultry market, La Vallee, Paris, where 
all the poultry, dead or alive, forwarded from the vari- 
ous parts of France, is sold by auction from five till 
nine o'clock in the morning. Several agents and poul- 
terers made inquiries for me of poultry merchants from 
the difterent parts of France, but with the same result. 
I made further inquiries at the dead poultry market at 
the Halles Centrales, also of a number of fancy poul- 
try dealers, but all to no purpose ; a few days later, on 
calling again at the Jardin d'Acclimatation, Monsieur 
A. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, the director, told me that a 
friend of his had informed him that such an establish- 
ment really did exist at Mouy, near Beauvais in Pi- 
cardie, and he gave me his card, and the following in 
writing, adding, however, that he did not believe in it. 



Io6 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

and that he should feel obliged by my communicating 
to him the result of my investigation : — 

" They tell me that M. de Soras has at Mouy, near 
to B., a large poultry-breeding establishment; but if 
my inquiries are right he ought to have at Mouy 1 3,000 
fowls, with which he supplies the Paris markets." 

I then telegraphed the following : " De Soras, M. 

(express) B. Have you an establishment for poultry 

breeding? Reply by return of mail. 

Geyelin." 

At the same time I posted a letter to the same effect, 
and asking permission to visit the establishment. The 
reply to the telegram was — not k7io%vn; the letter as 
yet has not been returned ; but to make the inquiry 
triply sure, I started myself for Mouy ; arrived at Reil 
Junction, I was informed that such an establishment 
really did exist at Mouy, and within half a mile of the 
railway station, which news delighted me, to know 
that my journey was not like a wild-goose chase ; there- 
fore, on arriving at Mouy, I proceeded at once to the 
poultry establishment, but not of M. de Soras, whose 
name is not even known to any person in that neigh- 
borhood, but of M. Manoury, eleveur a Angy pres 
Mouy, to whom I briefly related the object of my call. 
I was received with every courtesy, and informed that 
he knew of no such name as M. de Soras, nor of any 
establishment of the kind, but that he devoted his time 
to rearing some five thousand heads of poultry per 
annum ; he neither fed them on horseflesh nor supplied 
the markets of Paris ; that he sold none but pure breeds, 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. lO^ 

and those to gentlemen and fanc}^ poultry dealei^s ; never- 
theless, that his system of hatching, rearing, and feeding 
was so different to that adopted by others that it might 
possibly have given rise to those exaggerated reports ; 
after which he conducted me over his establishment, 
and explained most minutely the system he has adopted, 
which, however, I need not explain in this part, as I 
shall have to refer to it under the several headings. I 
will now conclude by adding, that I have visited all 
those places in France so justly famed for their poultry, 
and from which those celebrated breeds of Houdan, La 
Fleche, and Creve Coeur are obtained, where, also, I 
met with the utmost courtesy in my inquiries, though 
I had been informed that the farmers never explained 
or showed their system of poultry rearing to any one, 
which possibly may be true as regards their countrymen. 

2. Natural and Artificial Incubation. 

Of artificial incubation I have observed four different 
systems, which, although said to answer well, are yet 
far from being applicable to hatching in a commercial 
point of view. It matters, indeed, very little what sys- 
tem is adopted, provided the heat is maintained at an 
even temperature : to obtain this, various regulators 
have been invented, but none of which can as yet dis- 
pense with personal care. They all say that their 
regulators are perfect if the temperature of the room 
can be kept at the same degree of heat during incuba- 
tion ; that then they can regulate the heat of the incuba- 
tor to any given degree ; but as such conditions of a 



108 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

uniform temperature are impossible to maintain, con 
sidering the variations in the temperature of the atmos- 
phere, I consider artificial hatching too expensive for 
ordinary purposes, and only to be adopted at certain 
times of the year, and then only in establishments where 
the heat can be maintained at a uniform temperature, 
day and night, by personal care. 

At the Jardin des Plantes, in Paris, the manager of 
the poultry department, M. Vallee, employs an ap- 
paratus of his own invention, which he has patented, 
and for which he has obtained prizes at two exhibitions. 
The principle consists of water heated by means of a 
lamp as a medium for hatching : the temperature is 
regulated by admitting more or less cold air by means 
of a valve opened or closed by a mercury float. 

At the Jardin d'Acclimatation two systems of artificial 
incubation are in use, and although both are on the hot- 
water principle, yet they differ materially : the one is 
heated by means of a lamp, and the temperature regulated 
by a valve admitting more or less cold air, and which 
is effected by a piston acted upon by the expansion or 
condensation of air under different temperatures ; the 
other consists merely of a /zinc box covered with non- 
conducting materials. This apparatus requires neither 
lamp, regulator, or thermometer ; the hot water is re- 
newed every twelve hours ; and it is said to answer 
admirably. The eggs are placed in a drawer under- 
neath the water tank, but I cannot help thinking that 
with an atmospheric? temperature at or below freezing, 
point it would be very difficult to prevent the rapid 
cooling of the water. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. I09 

The next and last system of ai'tificial hatching I shall 
notice is that shown to me by M. Manoury at Mouy. 
It consists of an ordinary wine cask lined on the inside 
with plaster of Paris. In this cask several trays with 
eggs are suspended, and the top of the cask is provided 
with a certain number of vent-holes for admitting air, 
which is regulated by means of vent-pegs : the cask is 
surrounded to the top with a thickness of about four 
feet of horse manure. Though I am assured that this 
principle answers well, I entertain serious doubts about 
it for the same reasons as before stated. 

The Natural Hatching 

Differs entirely from what I ever saw before, and in 
some parts of France forms a special trade carried on 
by persons called coziveurs, or hatchers. These hatch 
for farmers at all times of the year at so much per 
egg, or purchase the eggs in the market, and sell the 
chickens, as soon as hatched, from threepence to six- 
pence each, according to the season of the year. This 
system may aptly be called a living hatching machine, 
and, in my opinion, it is the very best and cheapest 
way of hatching, as will be seen by the following de- 
scription : — 

The Hatching-Room 

Is kept dark, and at an even temperature in summer 
and winter. In this room a number of boxes, two feet 
long, one foot wide, and one foot six inches deep, are 
ranged along the walls. These boxes are covered in 



no POULTRY BREEDING IN 

with lattice or wire work, and serve for turkeys to hatch 
any kind of eggs. Similar boxes, but of smaller dimen- 
sions, are pro\",ded for broody fowls. The bed of the 
boxes is formed of heather, straw, hay, or cocoa fibres ; 
and the number of eggs for turkeys to hatch is two dozen, 
and one dozen for hens. 

At any time of the year, turkeys, wdiether broody or 
not, are taught to hatch in the following manner : Some 
addled eggs are emptied, then filled with plaster of Paris, 
then placed into a nest ; after which a turkey is fetched 
from the yard, and placed on the eggs, and covered over 
with lattice : for the first forty-eight hours she will en- 
deavor to get out of her confinement, but soon becomes 
reconciled to it, when fresh eggs are substituted for the 
plaster of Paris ones ; they will then continue to hatch, 
without intermission, from three to six months, and even 
longer ; the chickens being withdrawn as soon as hatched, 
and fresh eggs substituted : after the third day the eggs 
are examined, and the clear eggs withdrawn, which are 
then sold in the market for new laid ; but, as they may be 
soiled or discolored from having been sat upon, they clean 
them with water and silver-sand to restore their original 
whiteness. 

The turkeys are taken off their nest once a day, to feed, 
and to remove their excrements from the nest ; but, after 
a while, they cease self-feeding, when it is necessary to 
cram them, and give them some water once a day. 

Amongst some places I visited, in company with two 
of your shareholders, may be mentioned the farm of 
Madame La Marquise de la Brifle, Chateau de Neuville, 
Gambais, near Houdan, where we observed twelve tur- 



A COMMERCUL POINT OF VIEW. Ill 

keys hatching at the same time ; here, also, we witnessed 
the rearing and fattening, ^yhich will be alluded to here- 
after. In another place, — that of Mr. Auche, of Gambais, 
a hatcher by trade, — we observed sixty turkeys hatching 
at the same time ; and we were informed that, during 
winter and early spring, he had sometimes upwards of 
one hundred hatching at the same time, and that each 
turkey continued hatching for at least three months. At 
the farm of Mr. Louis Mary, at St. Julien de Faucon, 
near Lizieux, in Calvados, I saw a turkey that was then 
sitting, and had been so upwards of six months ; and as I 
considered it rather cruel, the hatcher, to prove the con- 
trary, took her off the nest, and put her in the meadow, 
and also removed the eggs ; the turkey, however, to my 
surprise, returned immediately to her nest, and called in 
a most plaintive voice for her eggs ; then some eggs were 
placed in a corner of the box, which she instantly drew 
under her with her beak, and seemed quite delighted. 
Moreover, I was informed that it was of great economical 
advantage to employ turkeys to hatch, as they eat very 
little, and get very fat in their state of confinement, and 
therefore fit for the market any day. 

3. The Rearing of Poultry. 

It seems strange that although in all countries the great 
difficulty of poultry breeding is the successful rearing, 
that no adequate means have ever been devised to coun- 
teract the influence of climates. In France, like here, a 
cold or wet spring is equivalent to a gr;at loss in poultry, 
and it seems to be admitted everywhere that cold and wet 



113 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

do not agree with poultry ; therefore, were it not for some 
novelties I observed in the rearing, to which I shall allude 
presently, I might well have said that their system is no 
better than our own ; in fact, they show an utter disregard 
of all sanitary considerations ; and without wishing to 
particularize any establishment, whether public or private, 
I may state that even the best conducted left room for 
great impi'ovement in this respect. In some pai'ts of 
France, where poultry breeding is carried on as a trade, 
they seldom allow a hen to lead the chickens after being 
hatched, as the hen is more valuable for laying eggs ; but 
the}^ intrust this office either to capons or turkeys, who 
are said to be far better protectors to the chickens than a 
hen : they require, however, a certain amount of schooling 
preparatory to being intrusted with their charge, and 
which consists in this : When a turkey has been hatching 
for some months, and shows a disposition to leave off, a 
glassful of wine is given her in the evening, and a num- 
ber of chickens are substituted for the eggs ; on waking 
in the morning, she kindly takes to them, and leads them 
about, strutting amidst a troop of seventy to one hundred 
chickens with the dignity of a drum-major. When, how- 
ever, a troop leader is required that has not been hatching, 
such as a capon or a turkey, then it is usual to pluck 
some of their feathers from the breasts, and to give them 
a glass of wine, and, whilst in a state of inebriation, to 
place some chickens under them : on getting sober the 
next morning, they feel that some sudden change has 
come over them ; and as the denuded part is kept warm 
by the chickens, they take also kindly to them. 

Another important matter in rearing poultry is their 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. II3 

feeding, which differs also very much with our own, but 
which I shall have to notice under a subsequent heading. 
In conclusion, I feel in justice bound to say that these 
artificial living protectors are most efficient to shelter 
chickens in the daytime, and in the evening they are 
placed with their charge in a shallow box filled with hay, 
from which they do not move till the door of the room is 
opened next morning. I must not omit to mention that 
the chickens are not intrusted to the mother, or a leader, 
before they are a week old, and then only in fine weather. 

4. Feeding and Fattening. 

The system of feeding poultry in France is far more 
judicious than our own ; and I may safely assert that I 
have not noticed a single instance of poultry being fed on 
whole grain, as it is the case with us. On inquii'ing the 
reason why they fed by meal made into a stitf paste, I 
was informed that whole grain would be too expensive, 
produce less eggs, too much fat, and cause more disease 
when the fowls are fed ad libitum^ so as to completely 
fill their crop, which renders the digestion difficult. The 
food is mostly composed of about one half bran and one 
half buckwheat, barley, or oatmeal made into a stiflf 
paste, with which the fowls are fed twice a day, namely, 
at sunrise and sunset ; this diet is given indiscriminately 
to old and young. In some farms, where the poultry 
have not the run of meadows, they are provided with 
a certain amount of animal and vegetable food, which 
system is so consonant with my own notion that I will 
now describe that followed at an establishment already 



114 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

noticed. All the waste of butchers' shops are obtained 
at the expense of collecting them ; these are boiled, the 
fat skimmed off, which, when coagulated, is with the 
waste finely minced, and mixed with the meal ; after 
which the waste of the kitchen garden, such as cabbage- 
stalks, are boiled in the liquid, and mixed with bran, sour 
poultry food, &c., which is then given to the pigs, who 
thrive admirably on it. Buckwheat is considered prefer- 
able to all other grains as a stimulant to laying eggs, and 
in winter a certain amount is given whole. The chickens, 
for the first week after being hatched, and in winter for a 
much longer time, are fed by hand on barley-meal mixed 
with milk, stale bi-ead soaked in water, and green food 
finely chopped. 

The Fattening of Poultry 

Whilst the rearing is carried on by farmers, the fatten- 
ing forms quite a special trade, and chiefly in the hands 
of cottagers, who purchase the chickens either from farm- 
ers or in the market ; moreover, it is the exclusive trade 
of a few villages in each poultry breeding district, such as 
Goussainville, de Saint Lubin, de la Haye, &c., near 
Houdan, Villaine, and Boce, near La Fleche au Mans ; 
also some hamlets near Saint Pierre Dive, Lizieux, Cal- 
vados. In these localities the system of fattening difiers, 
however ; the one consists of liquid cramming with bar- 
ley-meal and milk, given by means of a funnel introduced 
into the throat of the fovfl three times a day ; this process 
is exceedingly expeditious, as one person can easily cram 
at the rate of sixty fowls per hour, and the fattening lasts 
from fourteen days to three weeks, according to the dis- 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. II5 

position of the chicken to take fat ; the selection of the 
fattening stock requires some judgment, as some chickens 
are constitutionally too weak, and others have not the 
frame to receive fat. This system of liquid cramming is 
principally adopted in the neighborhood of Houdan ; and 
to give an idea of the importance of this trade, I will now 
give a short extract from the pamphlet I was kindly pre- 
sented with from a most intelligent agriculturist, Monsieur 
De la Fosse, Proprietaire a Orval, Goussainville pr^s 
Houdan. : — 

" It is to be desired that our excellent and pure breed 
of Houdan should be propagated in every other country 
as much as it is in our own, where the poultry trade has 
taken such a development that it forms one of the princi- 
pal sources of riches. A few exact statistics of this trade 
in our immediate neighborhood will give a correct idea 
of its importance. At the markets of Houdan, Dreux, 
and Nogent le Roi, there are sold annually upwards of 
six million heads of fat poultry, namely : — 

Per Week. 
Houdan . . . 40,000 
Dreux .... 50,000 
Nogent le Roi . 35,000 

Total 6,000,000 " . 

This does not include the sale of chickens and poultry, 
which forms a separate trade. 

Monsieur De la Fosse also deprecates the use of fat for 
fattening purposes, as it deteriorates the fineness and 
flavor of the flesh. In the districts of Le Mans and Nor- 
mandy, the fattening is performed by dry crammir.ig, viz. : 



Per Montli. 


Per Year. 


160,000 


1,920,000 


200,000 


2,400,000 


140,000 


1,680,000 



Il6 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

the meal of barley and buckwheat is made into a stiff 
paste with milk and water, then formed into pills two 
inches long and half an inch in diameter ; these are dipped 
into water, and forced into the throat of the fowl, until 
the crop is filled, twice a day ; it is, however, of impoi- 
tance not to cram a fowl vuitil she has digested the pre- 
vious meal, as otherwise it might produce inflammation 
and death. 

A most ill-founded notion prevails with all fatteners — 
that poultry will fatten much quicker without light or 
ventilation, and without ever removing their excrements, 
which makes these places most offensive and unhealthy ; 
no other reason could be assigned to me than that they 
jvere quite sure that the smell of the excrements stimu- 
lated the fattening ; in this there is about as much reason 
as in the notion our farmers used to entertain that pigs 
could only thrive in filth. In one place, however, which 
I visited in company with Monsieur Noel, proprietor of 
the Lion d'Or at La Fleche, a most intelligent man, and 
himself a large farmer, the cottager had provision made 
for the excrements to fall through the floor of the pen ; 
and on pointing out the innovation, he prided himself on 
his invention, as, said he, I can now remove the manure, 
and the feathers of the fowls get less dirty, and the birds 
have also more air. This, surely, is a step in the right 
direction. 

5. Killing and Dressing. 

This also is a speciality, carried on by men called 
Tueurs ct Appreteurs ; they are astonishingly expert in 
their business ; and unless witnessed, as we have done, it 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. II 7 

would appear incredible that one man can kill arj d pluck 
at the rate of cwie fowl per minute, or sixty per hour : the 
price paid for this work is about one farthing per head 
for lean and one halfpenny for fat poultry. The system 
of killing differs, however, in this, that whilst in Paris 
they make a gash in the throat, in the country they stick 
the poultry in the back of the roof of the beak ; but both 
cause immediate death ; the latter, however, is the clean- 
est and most desirable. They deprecate our system of 
twisting the neck, as cruel, discoloring the flesh, and 
causing early putrefaction of the coagulated blood. 
When a man kills, he has three baskets near him, into 
which he drops the feathers according to size ; and the 
reason of plucking the fowls instantaneously after death 
is the great saving in time, and the prevention of tear- 
ing the skin, which latter cannot well be avoided when 
the fowl once gets cold. 

The Dressing. 

The lean fowls are immediately emptied of their intes- 
tines ; but not so with the fat stock, which contain a large 
quantity of valuable fat, which is used for basting, and 
to give flavor to lean poultry. 

With chickens they take care to leave the down on, as 
an index of their age, and in all fowls they leave about 
half a dozen feathers in the rump, which gives a very 
pretty appearance. 

As soon as the fowl is plucked, and before cold, it is 
laid on its back on a bench, and wrapped I'ound with a 
wet linen cloth to mould its shape, and to give the skin a 



Il8 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

liner appearance ; however, they use no flour, as with us, 
to give an old hen the appearance of a cliicken. 

The fat poultry is drawn and dressed by cooks ; they 
make an incision under the leg to withdraw the intestines, 
by which means the fowl is not disfigured. 

6. Utilizing the Waste Products. 

Poultry Majiure. 

In France, as well as in our own country, most eminent 
chemists have proved by analysis that poultry manure is 
a most valuable fertilizer ; and yet, for want of a proper 
system in housing poultry, it has as yet not been rendered 
available to rural economy. The celebrated Vauquelin 
says that when the value of manures is considered in 
relation to the amount of azote they contain, the poultry 
manure is one of the most active stimulants ; and when, 
as a means of comparison, the following manures are 
taken in parts of looo, it will be found that, — 



Horse Manure contains .... 4.0 


parts of azote. 


Guano, as imported, .... 49.7 


u a 


Guano, when sifted of vegetables and 




stones, 53.9 


a (( 


Poultry Manure, 83.0 


a li 



In France, as in England, the poultry manure is left to 
accumulate in the poultry homes, to the loss of farmers 
and to the detriment of the health of fowls. 

The Feathers 

Are carefully collected and sorted, and when well dried 
sold to dealers. 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. H9 

The Iittestines 

Are boiled, the fat skimmed off, which is sold separate ; 
the intestines are then minced as food for poultry, and the 
liquid is used for feeding pigs. 

The Combs a^id Kidneys 

Are sold to pastry-cooks — the first for decorating and 
the latter for flavoring pies. 

The Head^ Neck^ mid Feet 

Are sold to hotels, restaurants, &c., for flavoring sauces, 
or boiled down to make chicken jelly. 

7. The System of Selling 

Poultry in France is far preferable to our own, although. 
In my opinion, it would be still better were poultry sold 
by weight. However, a farmer or merchant who con- 
signs poultry to Paris is sure to obtain a true return of 
whatever they fetched, as he does not rely, as with us, on 
the honesty of a dealer. 

At the wholesale poultry market, La Vallee, in Pans, 
where all poultry, dead or alive, is forwarded from all 
parts of France, there are a number of licensed agents to 
whom the poultry is consigned, and who sell it by auction 
to the highest bidder ; this market is a curious scene, and 
worth seeing, from four till nine in the morning, where 
thousands of crates, of all descriptions of poultry, are 
disposed of, and cleared out, before twelve o'clock in 
the day. 



I20 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

Every village has its weekly mai'kets, where farmers 
and their wives bring their produce for sale, in preference 
to selling it at the farm-yard. The police regulations in 
these mai'kets are strictly enforced. The various products 
are classified before the market begins. Each person is 
bound to keep his assigned place, and not allowed even 
to uncover his goods, and much less to sell, before the 
bell rings, under a fine of five francs. At the ringing of 
the bell, the bustle to uncover, the rush of buyers, and 
the chattering, are worth while to witness. The dealers 
and merchants take up their stand outside the market, 
where they send all the products they purchase. The 
seller has a ticket given him, with the purchase price on 
it, and is paid on delivery of the goods at the dealer's 
stand. It seems almost incredible to believe, that even 
in some village markets, within two hours, such a vast 
amount of business can be transacted with the greatest 
order and decorum. Some merchants will purchase from 
two thousand to three thousand pounds of butter ; others, 
twenty thousand to thirty thousand eggs, or some thou- 
sand heads of poultry, &c. ; all which are taken to their 
warehouse to be sorted, packed, and perhaps forwarded 
the same day either to London or Paris. I may add, that 
the current price for every commodity is fixed and known 
immediately after the market opens, and depends entirely 
on the demand and supply. For instance, fat chickens 
fetched four shillings each ; twelve eggs, sevenpence ; 
butter, tenpence per pound, &c. 

For the foregoing information, I am mainly indebted to 
Mr, H. Lindon, Jr., a most obliging gentleman, who rep- 
resents at Lizieux the Messrs. Lindon Brothers & Co, of 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 121 

London, general merchants ; in his company I lave vis- 
ited several farms, and attended market, at which he 
makes purchases of butter, grain, &c., for the London 
market. 

8. The Distinct Breeds. 

There are three perfectly distinct breeds, all very char- 
acteristic in their appearance ; and, when of pure race, 
they are very true to all their points. I shall only give a 
cursory description of the appearance of those we have 
now at our establishment in Bromley. 

Houdan Fowl. 

Whatever has been said to the contrary, this breed, 
when pure, is most characteristic ; but it must be ad- 
mitted, that most of the farmers near Houdan know as 
little of the pure Houdan breed as those of La Fleche 
and Crevecceur know of theirs ; and, if you were to order 
some first class birds of them, irrespective of price, they 
would with good conscience forward fowls of a large 
size — but, from a want of knowledge, some cross breeds. 
To illustrate this, I may mention that I could have pur- 
chased, at the markets in those respective localities, 
splendid thorough-bred specimens for about three shil- 
lings, the price of common fowls, — but which were 
v/orth in France even one pound each. There are, how- 
ever, in each locality, some persons who take an interest 
in their pure breeds, particularly since they have been 
encouraged by the award of prizes from poultry exhibi- 
tions. 



122 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

The Houdan fowl has a very bulky appearance, its 
plumage invariably black and white spangled — a crest 
of the same color ; comb, triple, the outsides opening like 
two leaves of a book, and the centre having the appear- 
ance of an ill-shaped long strawberry. With the cock 
the comb is very large, whilst with the hen it ought to be 
scarcely perceptible. The legs are strong, and of a lead 
color, with five claws, the two hind ones one above the 
other. Strongly-developed whiskers and beards both in 
cocks and hens. This is one of the finest races of fowls, 
but its qualities surpass even its beauty ; besides the 
smallness of their bones, the fineness of their flesh, they 
are of an extraordinary precocity and fecundity ; they lay 
large and white eggs, and the chickens are fit for the 
table at four months old. It is, however, observed that 
they are very indifferent for hatching. The weight of 
adults is from seven to eight pounds, in which the bones 
figure for one eighth. The chicken, when four months 
old, weighs, without the intestines, about four and a half 
pounds. 

The Crevecoeur Race, 

In outward appearance, resembles closely the Houdan, 
but its crest, whiskers, and beard are still ixiore developed ; 
the crest is only double, and projects like two horns with 
the cock, but with the hen it is very small ; the whole 
plumage ought to be perfectly black, although there are 
some white, also blue varieties, which are, however, only 
a degeneration ; legs black ; the claws, four in number, 
are stronger and longer than those of the Houdan. This 
breed is said to be superior, in all respects, even to 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 1 23 

Houdan fowls, vnid 'justly esteemed as the most preco- 
cious and finest in the world, as the chickens are fit for 
the table at three months old, and at six months old 
weigh from seven to eight pounds when fattened ; the 
eggs also are larger, and of a beautiful white. 

La Fleche Race. 

This breed differs entirely with the two preceding ones. 
In appearance they resemble the Spanish ; the plumage, 
which is jet black, fits close to the body, and gives an 
idea of less bulk than those of Houdan and Crevecoeur, 
although they actually are heavier fowls. They are very 
long in coming to maturity, but which happens generally 
at the season when poultry is most scarce, on account of 
which, coupled with the exquisite fliavor of the flesh, 
they fetch fabulous prices ; and even at the time I was at 
La Fleche, the beginning of July, the fat chickens sold in 
the mai'ket at five shillings each. Skin white, fine, trans- 
parent, and very elastic, which enables them to take an 
extraordinary amount of fat. The weight of adults is 
from eight to ten pounds, and the bones less than one 
eighth of the weight ; when standing erect they measure 
twenty-two inches in height and twenty-three inches in 
circumference, taken from under the wings. The legs, 
and four claws, of a lead color, are strong ; the comb in 
appearance like two horns, like those of Crevecosurs, 
with a little crest behind ; the face white, like the Span- 
ish, and a horn on the beak like that of the rhinoceros, 
form the principal characteristics of this fine race. It 
is said they begin to lay early in the year ; but their 
eggs, though abunda it, are smaller than those of other 



124 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

French breeds, and as regards sitters they are considered 
as bad as the Spanish. 

9. Caponage and Virgin Cocks. 

There seems to exist a considerable difference of opinion 
in various parts of France as to the necessity of castrat- 
ing young cocks for fattening purposes. In some locali- 
ties they pretend that when cocks are not allowed to 
associate with the opposite sex, they will attain, when 
fattened, a greater weight, and be much finer as regards 
flavor of flesh ; others again say that when a cock is cas- 
trated, it can be kept till a more mature age without 
deteriorating its quality, and by this attain an extraordi- 
nary weight when fattened, besides making them useful 
as troop leaders of chickens, as before described. I can- 
not decide which of the two systems is the best or most 
advantageous, any more than I can decide about the two 
systems of cramming, without making experiments ; this 
much, however, I have noticed, that virgin cocks fatten 
very readily, and fetch prices as high as capons. 

10. Opinions on my System of Poultry Breed- 
ing AND Rural Economy 

Wherever I went and whenever I had an opportunity, 
I promulgated my system of poultry breeding in connec- 
tion with rural economy with a view to elicit opinions, 
having been taught by experience that diversity of opinion 
is the greatest stimulant to improvement and progress. 
Without naming any individual opinion, I may state that, 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 1 25 

without exception, all were favorable as regards the 
practicability of the undertaking when carried out on an 
extensive scale, as then the working expenses would be 
at their minimum and the returns at the maximum ; that 
they do not consider it difficult to rear chickens in-doors, 
as their winter and spnng chickens are all reared in out- 
houses. Some, however, hold it to be beneficial for 
fowls to get wet, with which I differ, as they are not 
amphibious, and require only dry dust to clean them- 
selves. The separation system is mtich approved of, as 
it enables the races to be kept pure, in which they find 
the greatest difficulties in farm-yards : the arrangement 
for nests, feeding, warming, and ventilation are likewise 
commended — in fact I was told several times, " Ah, you 
Englishmen, when you do anything you do it well and on 
a grand scale." 

II. Analysis of my Observations. 

Fiction, when well told and supported by imaginary 
statistics, bears often more semblance to truth than leality 
itself; this fact was never better illustrated than by the 
interesting account given by some ingenious and inven- 
tive mind of certain Gallinocultural establishments, whose 
illusive existence was stated to be in the vicinity of 
Paris, and where the exclusive diet of the fowls was 
horseflesh. The story seemed so plausible, and the 
details so minute, that it was accepted as a fact, and in 
due course published in numerous scientific and other 
papers of this and other countries ; indeed, the fact that 
fowls are omnivorous, and that they have a predilection 



126 POULTRY BREEDING IN 

foi" animal food, is so well known, that had it not bee:^ 
explicitly stated that their exclusive diet was horseflesh, 
I should have credited it myself; my doubts did, how- 
ever, not arise on account of the use of horseflesh, — 
which is just as good, and perhaps better, than many 
other animals' flesh for the food of poultry, — but solely 
on account of its pretended exclusive use. I have been 
informed at the Jardin des Plantes and at the Jardin 
d'Acclimatation, in Paris, that this subject has created 
as much interest and deception in other countries as our 
own, as persons from Russia, America, and other parts 
of the world, had come on purpose to Paris to visit those 
imaginary establishments. Whether on account of the 
daily increasing price of animal food the public mind was 
prepared to believe in the existence of such Gallinocultu- 
ral establishments, where they slaughter fifty horses per 
diem for the food of poultry, or whether the publication 
of such fictions does more harm than good, I will not ven- 
ture to discuss ; nor can I say whether the persons who 
were disappointed in the object of their journey were com- 
pensated by learning some profitable matters not included 
in their programme of inquiry ; but what I can assert, and 
which I believe will be fully borne out by the preceding 
I'eport, is, that my journey to France will prove in many 
respects most beneficial to the interest of our Company. 
In sujopoi't of this assertion I cannot do better than quote 
what I stated in my first report, viz., — 

" We are not about to carry out any new invention 
in poultry breeding, but merely a wise combination of 
well-established facts : individually, the facts are well 
known ; but a combination of them applied to poultry 



A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 12^ 

breeding has hitherto escaped the notice of rural econo- 
mists." 

Such is, in fact, the case in the undertaking we are 
about to carry out ; namely, a combination and adoption 
of all the most successful systems in poultry breeding, 
whether of this or any other country ; and it must be as 
satisfactory to you to know, — after having honored me 
with your confidence, — as it was pleasing to me to see, 
that the system of poultry breeding we are carrying out 
at Bromley, in Kent, combines every element of success. 

With the exception of hatching by the aid of turkeys, 
rearing by turkeys and capons, and some other novelties 
connected with poultry breeding, and which we shall 
adopt, the soundness of my system is now proved by the 
successful working of its several parts in various places 
of France. 

I can now with every confidence congratulate you for 
having founded the first Gallinocultural establishment in 
the world, and one that will prove as beneficial to you as 
it will be a boon to the nation at large ; and which soon 
must become the national nursery for all pure races of 
poultry from whence farmers and others can be supplied 
with first class breeding stocks at moderate prices ; an 
establishment, it is to be trusted, that will not only prove 
the foundation to an increase of animal food and the ame- 
lioration of poultry breeds, but also prove the means of 
poultry becoming cheaper and of more general use than 
it now is. 



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DR. GEO. B. LORING, 



C. L. FLINT, 1 

„ ^^ y General A aricuUure and Horticulture. 
SANFORD HONTARD, j ^ 

E. W BULL, J 



DANIEL NEEDHAM, ^ ^'- E. AffriczMural Society Department. 
E. A. SAMUELS — Natural History Department. 

ALL TE r^-KETS- CATTLE, PfieDyCE, WOOL. 

Kepokted expressly for the Ploughman. 
M^ Specimen Copies sent everywhere on application. 



TERMS : $2.50 per Year, in Advance. 



GEOE,GE NOYES, Pubiisher, 

Nos. 51 and 63 North Market Street, Boston. 



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